大象传媒

Ross' career started at Twycross Zoo in 1997, when he joined the team on work placement during his degree. He continued to work at Twycross in until 2000 when he moved to Flamingo Land. Working with animals is all he ever wanted to do, 鈥淚t鈥檚 been my life鈥檚 passion and my life鈥檚 work.鈥�

As you can imagine, the road to zoo keeping is a long one, with a lot of studying to do before you can even begin to look after an animal. Ross has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in applied ecology, a masters in primate conservation and a qualification in UK zoo animal management!

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be passionate about animals. Looking after animals is hard work, it鈥檚 dirty work, it鈥檚 smelly work. For most zoo keepers it鈥檚 not a nine to five job, it鈥檚 something that becomes a lifestyle, a passion,鈥� explains Ross.

Dougie chats to Ross about the lions

大象传媒 Radio York's Dougie Weake bravely visited Ross at the lion enclosure to meet 12-week-old Nala and Jafar, the two newest additions to the pride.

鈥淟ions have been here now for five years. This is the second or third time we鈥檝e bred them here. The previous set of cubs are now a year old, so we were ready for the mums to give birth again. We鈥檙e trying to build up a nice size pride. We want a social group that really reflects how they would live in the wild.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge size difference, these things are already twice as big as a domestic cat, even though they are only 12 weeks old,鈥� explains Ross.

Nala and Jafar

鈥淭hey are already starting to eat meat. At this stage I wouldn鈥檛 let my keepers go anywhere near them. It鈥檇 just be a little bit dangerous.鈥�

You can鈥檛 take any risks working with unpredictable animals of this size, so there a lot of safety checks and precautions.

Ross is a big believer in zoos helping animal conservation, 鈥淲e can really give something back and a large part of that is educating the visitors. I enjoy meeting people out and about in the zoo. It鈥檚 such a fun and educational place to be.鈥�

鈥淚f someone is 16, 18, 21 and thinking about it as a career, I鈥檇 absolutely recommend it, there鈥檚 no better job. No more rewarding job, but it is hard work, so if they want to do it, they鈥檇 better be prepared to work hard.鈥�