Features / Animals
Being a zoo keeper for the day
Crouching down in the corner of the meerkat enclosure at Wild Place Project to pick up some poo, an inquisitive meerkat takes a sniff at one of six-year-old Mersina’s welly boots.
Mersina is being a junior keeper for the day and cleaning up meerkat poo is just one of her jobs.
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She has already handed a branch full of tasty leaves to some hungry reindeer and now is inside the greenhouse within the Wild Place’s walled garden that this family of seven brothers calls home.
The next task is to place crickets inside coloured balls to give the meerkats a challenge as they find their food, before scattering pellets which cause Mersina to hop on to a small wooden box – the furry creatures only inches away from her before the particularly curious brother takes a sniff of her boot as she cleans up some of his business.
All the while attended to by professional keeper Daniella, the Wild Place’s youngest recruit next moves on to the red river hogs, this time throwing two food bags into their enclosure. One hog sticks its head in, while the other rips it apart with his tusks and teeth.
Mersina’s favourite part of the afternoon is spent with three goats, the two boldest of which both eat their food from her hands at the same time.
Her other job for the goats is to help make their bed for the night with straw and place some hay in a spherical container for a snack.
Ring-tailed lemurs also eat from Mersina’s hands. They are especially keen on their favourite delicacy, sweet potatoes.
Turning their wet noses up at most of the other options on offer in the hope of getting more sweet potato, they gather on a raised area as more food is thrown their way, holding it in their own hands and eating contentedly.
Daniella is particularly keen here to find one lemur who has recently been dethroned from his position as alpha male within the group, making sure that he has something to eat.
Mersina also helps to feed the shyer mongoose lemurs within their heated enclosure, leaving their food on branches as they keep a beady eye on us from their lofty perches.
It’s the end of a very exciting day for a six-year-old who can now talk with some authority to her friends at school whether goats prefer hay or straw, the tusks of red river hogs, and the particular varieties of meerkat poo.
Children aged between six to 15 can become a Junior Keeper for the Day at Wild Place Project. For more information, visit www.wildplace.org.uk/plan-your-visit/animal-experiences/junior-keeper-for-the-day
Read more: Filming with Bristol’s budding Attenboroughs
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