In ‘Keeper for a Day' participants experience life as an animal keeper at Healesville Sanctuary.
Participants visit many of those secret Sanctuary places like the fly breeding room, the gum plantation, and the food room.
They rake kangaroo paddocks, service mouse cages, speak with visitors, check microchip numbers, perform health checks on possums, and even make artificial emu eggs for the buzzard to break during the Birds of Prey presentation.

Some recent student comments:
‘I felt like a zookeeper and got first hand experience of the job'

‘The experience that was most valuable was when we were able to talk with the keepers about how they got in to their field.'

‘I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys learning about animals because it is fun and interesting.'

Activities you found most valuable on the day?

Visit the behind the scenes areas such as the food room and to be involved in some of the tasks the keepers do.

Why were they valuable?

The activities let you discover that zookeeping is not always what you think it will be. I had no idea that a keeper would make plaster emu eggs. It showed me the more unfamiliar parts of the job.

If you struck any problems, how did you overcome them?

I did not have any problems on the day. Some people did not like the smell of the fly room but I thought that was all just a part of the experience.

Are you doing anything differently as a result of coming?

I am now a volunteer at the Victorian Animal Aid Trust in Coldstream as we were advised to get some experience with animals by volunteering. I clean out the dog kennels and walk dogs. I have also looked further into enrolling into tertiary courses at Box Hill TAFE for next year.

Has coming to the program helped you to make any decisions about what you want to be doing in the future?

Yes it has. Keeper for a Day provided information about some of the courses I could do. I did not know what courses zookeepers did before coming. Next year I am hoping to enrol in Certificate 2 in Animal Studies at Box Hill TAFE and possibly go on to complete Certificate 3 in Companion Animals the year after.

Sarah also features in the video on the ‘Do the Yarra Valley' website alongside some of our other participants. It can be found here. http://www.dotheyarravalley.com.au/category/attractions/keeper-for-a-day/

Some of our participants sent in comments to the website. These are featured here:
http://www.dotheyarravalley.com.au/keeper-for-a-day-healesville-sanctuary/#comments

		Flyer HS Keeper for a day flyer January 2011.pdf  ( 119.1 KB )