Abi Clarke: Zookeeper in Training - Week 1: Moving House

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

Comedian Abi Clarke is stepping out of the comedy spotlight and into some steel-capped boots, because she is officially Chester Zoo’s newest Zookeeper in Training. In her first week on the job, Abi is thrown straight into the deep end. And by the deep end, we mean a close encounter with some very vocal giant otters, a relocation mission involving 107 greater flamingos and helping a herd of giraffes settle into their brand-new home. But there’s no time for imposter syndrome, when you’re joining the team at the UK’s best zoo. See some of Abi’s adventures at Chester Zoo on Instagram and TikTok. Find out more about the incredible work at Chester Zoo, here. New episodes every week. Music courtesy of BMG Production Music Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is your official warning that this podcast may contain some very mild swearing. Don't worry, I won't be calling an elephant a but if you're expecting a super child-friendly podcast, this may not be the show for you. Proceed with caution. There's an awful lot of bird here. There's a lot going on. I'm Abby Clark. I'm a stand-up comedian and I'm on a mission to become the ultimate zookeeper. After a few years on the comedy circuit, I'm worried I've started to run out of material. So what better way to spice up my set that a complete career change and colleagues that could bite me at any turn? I've somehow managed to secure myself a trainee ship at Chester Zoo,

and I've got six weeks to prove that I am cut out for this whole zookeeper life. These guys know their stuff. They are committed to preventing wildlife extinction and raising awareness around conservation and environmental issues, basically saving the world and I'm officially signed up to help them so it's really important that I don't mess this up I'm taking you along with me as I try to survive the first few weeks on the job

I'm doing everything I am not famous enough to be excluded from the poop are we cleaning out the rhinos training the sloths and even overseeing some brand new arrivals what we can do sometimes is feed them corn comes out hole in their poo the same as humans Target

that is a nose poop Good. So this is a flamingo. It's pink. This is Abby Clark, zookeeper in training. I'm ready to dive straight into this. I'm ready to get my hands dirty, as I'm about to meet my all-time favorite,

the giant otter. Now, okay, I've been waiting my whole life for this. It's like meeting a celebrity. Now, you might think they're. ease me into this, baby steps, but no. My first job involves slicing up raw wholefish, guts and all, and feeding it by hand to these Class A dangerous animals. But at least they're adorable, right? Oh my God, babies! Oh, they're so cute. Listening back, I immediately regret doing this podcast. I did not think through how my

voice would sound when talking to animals. That is embarrassing. Is it disrespectful to torture them like that? Should I keep an animal voice? They just look like puppies and I have to draw it to them. That's well better. The first keeper to welcome me to the zoo was Fraser from the carnivore team. Is there just two of them? Just then too, yeah.

What are their names? We got Tiberi, who's our female and Manusa, who's our male. The Bibi's got quite white throat markings. So that's quite an obvious tale between the two. both of their throats you can see she's quite white in colouration and he's not and she's also a little bit bigger than him as well day one that is me soaring a whole fish in two soaring is an important word it was not a gentle cut what is this guy's relationship like are they official oh he's definitely definitely definitely definitely

Definitely official. I think they keep it under wraps, you know, they don't want many people to know. We'll only ever see them really communicating, socialise together on cameras. Because normally, when we're here, it is food related, you know, they know us and recognise us as we're being fed. So when we're not here is when, you know, the real action goes down. Is it true that they hold hands? They do hold hands. When sleeping, they do hold hands. We've got videos of them holding hands, actually.

It's very, very cute. So the relationship is really, really special. So before getting him, she was by herself for a small part, a very small time. And in that, you can tell that she needed a companion. And it's great that they can sort of be together and come together and off the back of it, they've got a really, really strong bond. And it's something that we take pride in, and I think they'd naturally take pride in as well. And how did you like get them to get on?

So honestly, they did the hard work for hours if we're being honest. You know, we can do what we can to try and help them get along with each other. But naturally, it was up to them. They're not naturally by themselves anyway, so I think as soon as they knew one another were here, they just wanted to be with each other. It's really, really lovely that it can be like that. Never ever have any issues,

or any conflict between these guys. They're almost inseparable. If we ever have to separate them for even a small, small, small, small part in time, they go bonkers for each other. They just want to be with each other all the time. And, yeah, it's really special. It's really lovely.

It's good that they can have that relationship. These are giant also, right? So these are giant otters. So there's 30. different species of otter and these guys are the largest of them all. They're actually the largest of all the muster lids. So musterlids are essentially the weasel family. So that's your badgers, your ferrets, your moles and also all different otters as well. And these guys are the largest. So they're found in South America. So all along the Morocco and Amazon River,

all along the base of them. And these guys typically live in family groups and formations. Is it dangerous? Like if you get bitten by... guys are insanely dangerous. They're actually known in the wild chase away Jaguars. So Jaguars are the essentially the only animal that they can be seen as prey for. That's why the normally living family groups strengthen numbers essentially so the more of them the better. Oh my god yeah there's that video of otters taking down an alligator. Yes yeah there is yeah. Is that these otters? Not these guys personally. Exactly so alligators jaguars basically anything that might challenge him

in or outside of the river, these guys are faces anything and they will, as you can say, snappy as you like, and listen, they'll take on almost absolutely anything. So how big is a giant otter? A giant otter can range anywhere from, in length, anywhere from four to six feet. So as you see when they stand up, they can actually get quite tall and the weights can vary quite a lot as well. So some females, our female in particular, is just about 30 kilos. And would you mind you saying that? Well, you have to ask her.

I think she takes pride in our big she is, to be fair. So, yeah, these guys can get absolutely huge. And like you said, it's a strengthening mechanism, and it's also helps them hunt down a different place. So I am literally butchering a fish as we speak. Hey, that's the vibe. While I was getting up close and personal with the otters elsewhere in the zoo, it was moving day.

Some context for you. Chester Zoo has been undergoing a bit of a good. glow up recently. They've built a huge new savannah, which is home to over 50 species, including giraffes, zebras, ostriches, basically a whole safari in there. But how on earth do you move that many animals across the zoo and into their new homes? Well, the bird team can tell us a bit more. I'm flamingo catching, but if you need anything, give me a shout. All right, tarah, tar, my name's Jonathan. I'm one of the assistant team managers of birds here at Chester Zoo, and we're preparing to move our flock of 107 greater flamingos over to the heart of Africa.

Who's held a flamingo before? One of you. Okay. No, I haven't held a flamingo before, Jonathan. I have held a chicken. Well, I learned how to hold it on a cabbage. You're meant to hold the two side wings down first. Then you get it under the arm, hold the wing down with your side.

The other hand is free. To do what you like, really. Go about your day with a chicken under your arm. Is a flamingo similar? So this is a flamingo. It's pink. A flamingo turning circle is much bigger than you'd think. When you're going through doorways, remember, it's like you're driving something with the trailer, you've got sticking out both ends, so don't want.

If you hit the head, they'll just be alright. If you hit the legs, that's bad. Your female flamingos would be like between one and a half to four and a half kilos, and your male flamingos will be a lot bigger. So if you see a, it can be obviously in the middle. If you see a little flamingo, it's probably a female. If you see a big flamingo, it's probably a male. So the biggest flamingos we've got in here are probably about six kilos,

and the smallest will be about one and a half to females. It's a dynamic risk assessment. Looks like the Great Texas Flamingo Massacre, doesn't it? That one's sexually harassing him. Look, it's biting his bum. I really applaud Chester Zoo for choosing to mic up Jonathan. Really telling it how it is. The raw honesty is refreshing.

Give it another minute. I've just got a little backlog. Hi, I'm Claire. I'm one of the assistant team managers on the bird team at Chester Zoo. And today we are moving our flock of greater flamingos over to the heart of Africa. So yeah, what we're doing is Wayne's going in and the flamingas are getting, and small number are getting corralled in, and then grabbing one at a time,

passed out to a member of staff, and then they come through our processing line. So the first step is our records team. So we'll check leg wings and life the chips make sure everything tallies. The right ideas are on the right bird. Note down anything. There's a few that we need to take feather sex in for. There's a few that need vet checks. And then they move into the next little station, and we do foot photos.

Footpicks. How much? Flamingas are notorious for having problems with their feet, like kind of like little bumble-foots and cuts and scrapes and things like that. And obviously they're so long-lived, you know, up to 70 years. So we just sort of keep track of it, make sure any problems we can flag them early rather than it develop. And then we're just doing a way. It's just a final part of a health check just to make sure everything

sort of within the boundaries of what we'd expect. And anything particularly underweight, we can flag it as a potential problem. How do you weigh a flamingo? I hear you ask. okay, well, you start by weighing a human, whoever draws the shorts draw. Today, it was a woman called Esther. We weighed Esther first, and then once we knew how much Esther weighed, we could then add a flamingo. Do the maths and work out how much the flamingo weighed on top. The flamingas are very different personalities. Sometimes the males can be more aggressive than the bigger males,

so it's a little bit trickier to hold, which can sometimes. Sometimes it makes it easier, sometimes it's harder and they feel less secure, so they wriggle more. And we do have some that will just sit there, hold the head up and go through the whole process and are absolutely fine. We have others which I want to bite you, the other flamingos, the person stood next to you and we have to actually have a second person to hold the head as you're going through just because they literally will just peck at anything as they go past. And although they're a filter feeder, they have a strong beak and it will give you a really nasty pinch. Claire's laughing, but I feel like there was a nervous laugh from Claire.

So at the minute it's just going to be the flamingos settling in, but then we are going to have other waterfowl species over there as well. and Great Crown Cair as well. So it will be a nice mixed exhibit, similar to the Latin American exhibit where we have our Caribbean flamingos quite a lot going on all the time. I don't think a lot of these flamingos

have actually ever lived with other birds before, and a lot have come from Slimbridge where they have a massive flamingo flock, but I'm not sure if they've ever really lived in a mixed species, things. That'll be quite interesting. I think the dogs are pretty standard. That's nothing too bad,

but how they get on with the cranes or probably more how the cranes interact with 100 plus flamingos might be interested. And while they figure out exactly where I want to stand here. That's your area. That's my area where they're never going to breed where we want them to breathe. So there might be squabbles over nesting sites and things, but that's just the fun of it, I suppose. I've had my fair share of nightmare housemates. It feels like these cranes are turning up on the first day of uni. They got through clearing. They've had to take the last available

accommodation. They've turned up and they're sharing with 107 flamingos. I mean, I had to share with two rugby lads and they pissed in the sink. So to be honest, I think I prefer the flamingos. I've got a microphone on now. So, bollered. Willie. And Lauren thought this was a PG podcast, and that would be cut. Hi, I'm Lauren. I'm one of the lead keepers on the bird team at Chester Zoo,

specialising in wetland birds. So we're taking photographs of feet. I'm going to take one, and these guys are going to take some. So you want the feet about here on the whiteboard. If they're going to kick, stand back up so they don't kick the table. I'll take my photo. And then these guys will take theirs, but they want separate feet. So if you loosen your grip on the legs,

I'll just pry these legs open a bit. Wait, so we spread Esther's legs now? God, this is a terrible day at work for Esther. So at the other end, they're going to drive around to the new Flamingo facility and park up nearby. Oh, yay! Jonathan's back. They'll open the back door and Jamie will get into the box. He'll pass them to Claire, and Claire will pass them off the van,

and then to someone who will then release them into the building. It's just because it's loads of different levels, and there's lots of legs and thrashing and everything. you have to be really careful. So we're driving nice and slowly now. In that box, they're not really able to move a huge amount. So that's good because what will happen is if they move, they'll panic, they'll bash their wings or hurt their legs.

So they're all contained nicely. They'll all huddle up and you'll just see them in the moves van. We've got a camera so we can watch them if there's any issues. Then we'll stop the vehicle and can go and deal with it. So a little journey now, then they'll be fine. So the flamingos are safely contained now, but is there any risk once doors open that they can take flight? Flamingos can fly, but they need to run up to fly.

So if they're in a little box like that, they can't get out. We do end up when they fly in the other Avery, they do fly and sometimes end up on the boardwalk. And so in the breeding season, sometimes you end up with panicked calls from like school kids screaming because there's a flaming on the boardwalk. So we have to go and catch it and put it back. We'll check back in with the flamingos a bit later on

to see how they've settled into their new place. Another family who's been relocating recently is the giraffes. I met up with Keeper Caroline to get the lowdown on moving day and see if I could do anything to help these guys feel more settled into their new house share. I'm Caroline and I work on the draft team. So we're going to go into the draft house. They're about to be let onto the paddock, but first we need to let them onto the hard stand. So they're ready and raring to go.

So if we go in here and you can come and help me let them out. And what's a hard stand? So the hard stand is just an area that we can put them on in winter. dry under their foot and it's not going to get muddy. It's their own area. There's no other animals that can come and disturb their peace. So this is the back stage of our giraffe house. So you've got the main pens in front and then we're by their backbed pens. So we're going to let the group out onto the hard end or you can do that for me. So it's just turning this wheel. Oh my goodness. Antichlockwise but we do have a head sticking out so just go really slowly.

Okay. Excuse me miss. There we go. Doors opening. Pull the lemur crank. We're all ready to go out into sunshine. Here they get. Oh, look at them. Wow. They are glowing. They are strutting out.

Are we going to see the other side? We can go out this side door here and see them outside. Hey girls, we're coming out. They tried to put me on the cover of Vogue by my legs. They're too low. Can you talk us through? Yeah. So we've got, I say this is an all girls group,

but we do have a young male. who's just appeared out of the door there. And this is kind of like a bit of a family group. We've got some unrelated females. We've also got moms with their kind of offspring. So this one's staring at us here is Dalma. She's our oldest female, dribbling away. And then all the other girls are heading out now.

And then Edie's just come out. So she's our youngest one. She was one in March. Oh, my gosh. So she's so small. Well, for a giraffe. Still massive. Still a lot taller than us.

Are they all family? No, there's a couple of unrelated, but most of them are off. spring from kind of two females, really. Most of them get along the young boy, Stanley. He is a teenage boy, so he is throwing his weight around a little bit, especially with Tula, one of our older females. But generally they get on really well. Actually, they all follow each other out onto the paddock and this glorious sun. It's tough being the guy in an all-female office. It is. It is. He does have a tough job.

So they moved a couple of weeks ago. Where were they before? So they were in another area of the zoo that they'd been in for many years. The house had been built in the 19th. we'd had giraffes in there for a very long time so it was a big deal to move them into this new area we watched this whole area grow and be built and that was really cool to see it step by step but yeah moving day was a long day and a tough day um always it is it is it was it was difficult um it didn't go without its hiccups but it went as well as we could have hoped really they move in a giant horse box um but the roof can move so you can make it bigger and smaller and that's what they'd move if they would move them to another zoo as well but yeah so one at a time um edie went with mom aller they were the only

that came in together, but everybody else went one at a time. So it's take the trail around to the new house, put it on, bring them all the way around the zoo, into this house, unload them, take it back round again. So I think we started at 8 o'clock in the morning, and we finished at 8 o'clock at night. So is this the first time they've met other animals? It is, yeah. How's it going? Actually, it's gone really well, a lot better than we were kind of expecting it to be.

We thought the zebras might cause some issues, but actually they're more scared of the drafts than we thought they'd be. Yeah, I feel like it's scary to see a giraffe for the first time than a zebra for the first time. They were definitely shocked, I think. And how many days now have they been with the others? A couple of weeks now, so we've done it really gradually. So we let everyone go out onto the paddock for the first time on their own, give them a week or so on their own just so they can get used to it.

Then we mix the zebras in and actually we mix the giraffes, zebra and ostrich all together for the first time yesterday. Oh my God. But yeah, we've kind of done it all gradually. So everyone's kind of had their moments to get used to everybody before we put everybody together. And how do you introduce an ostrich to a giraffe? So they can see each other through the fences first. and then it's a little bit of just let them go and see what happens. And we have people in different places on the paddock that can help if need be and step in.

What was your plan if you introduce them and they all just started spitting at each other? So we are in hands. So we have a vehicle out there at the moment that sits out there all the time so we can kind of break fights up if we need to. We can get in the middle of it with fire extinguishes. So the fire extinguishes are just for a noise. so it's a bit of a shock tactic. So it would just be a really short blast of a fire extinguisher. And that's just enough quite often to kind of for the animals to go,

oh, what was that? And they forget about what they were doing. So sometimes that's all it takes is just that short burst of, right, can we think about what we're doing? Take a moment. Breathe. Control yourselves. Are you going to regret this later?

Exactly. It's like writing in the notes app before you send email. Yeah, exactly. So that just, we've got that control of just going, can we just have a moment to think about what we're doing? And then, yeah, various people in different areas. we've got food. The antelope and the zebra are actually recored trained so we can make a noise. So the row and antelope are trained to a bell. So if they hear the bell, they know they need to go

inside. The zebra's a trained to a clacker. So that's kind of a good tactic that we used. When we first moved over there before we started mixing them, we put those noises out so that we have that, again, a slight bit of control when we put them together. So hopefully that noise is better than better than fighting with the giraffes. That noise is, I'm going to get food and that's better than that. So I feel awful. I haven't got them anything for their new home. Yeah, you should do. I didn't get a gift. I'm sorry. Did giraffes like Dunelm? I don't know.

What can we make them? What can we do? We can put some food up, like I said before. The weight of their heart is through their food, so we can make some food for them and pop it up and see if they'll come over. Let's do it. So we've just got lunch boxes. This is what I have my lunch in. They are literally, one's bought from the shop. So it's really important for drafts to use their tong.

So we've designed these feeders so that it's not just going into a bucket, picking the food out as quick as they can, scoffing it down and move on to the next thing. These feeders slow everything down. So we can just so what are we putting in them? So this is just their breakfast we spread it out through the day. So it's like food mixed in with hay. So it's called alpha. Basically the alpha just slows it down. They need lots of fibre in their diet. So the alpha is very fibrous and it just helps with their digestion. So rather than just giving them the pellet, which they would, would eat really quickly. It just helps kind of everything stick together in the in the stomach. It's like eating with a really small knife and fork. Yeah. Slows them down. Yeah. It's like being on a diet. Yeah. So we've got like a draining pipe. A drain pipe is literally just a drain pipe. A drain pipe with little plastic sticks going through it so that they've got to loop their tongue round,

I'm assuming. Yep. And then genuinely just regular lunchboxes with holes cut in the door. Don't need anything fancy for a giraffe. Are they, with a human schedule of breakfast, lunch and dinner? Are there any extra meals? So they technically just get a morning feed and afternoon feed, but I say we try and spread it out through the day. So we'll give these multiple times through the day. So they're pretty much constantly eating.

If they're not eating the pellet, they're eating the brows and the branches that we put up for them, which is probably the most important bit of their diet. Whoa, they're running. Thank you, guys. Oh no. someone's getting told off who's getting told off right now um i don't know who started it milly was getting shouted at so milly was probably one that came charging in milly milly was the last one to go

out she did not want to cross that boundary but it was like an invisible line that she couldn't go past she didn't want to go to work today yeah no and she came in ready to start drama do you ever get worried when they're running at that speed into a close yeah especially when It's still, obviously they have been in this house for a while now, but it's still an area that they're getting used to. Oh, they're back. There's still a vibe. All there's still a vibe. Is there one particularly greedy giraffe? You have to keep an eye on. Say they're all pretty greedy. We just make sure that there's lots of different places they can go to to eat, especially with these feeders where there's kind of just one hole to get into the lunchbox. Yeah. You do get one that all get the tongue in and they're not leaving. So yeah, we try and give them multiple so they can all get some. This might, it's going to be a good opportunity to put one up.

So it's a lunchbox and then on the lid they've stuck a like, what is this? It's called eco board. Eco board on top with a hole in. I feel like Stacey Solomon would make this. So if you want to pop yours on there and I'm as high as you can for a draft. Gosh, yeah, I'm not tall. Is there a high requirement for this job? There isn't, but I feel like there should be.

We're all quite small on this section. I feel like they should put the tallest people. There we go. Oh, it's not quite straight. I feel like this isn't. They won't mind that. They won't mind? No.

So this is Millie, she's our tallest female. And then Cansey, behind, you probably are some of the greedier ones. You see in the lunchbox ones the tongues coming through as well, how big their tongues are. So are any of these species endangered? So the draughts and the zebras are both endangered. There's actually lots of different types of giraffe. So there are four different species of giraffe and seven subspecies of What, in there right now? No, these are just one. But yeah, there's lots of different types of giraffe in Africa. So there's about 3,000 of these left in the wild.

There's lots of work going on to discover the different population. So it's really important that if you're moving a giraffe from one location in Africa to another location, you're moving the right giraffes. So they are compatible when they're moving and breeding together. There's a lot of research going into that at the moment. A lot of work on saving habitats and areas that they can be moved back into and that are big enough for populations of giraffe. They don't massively have predators of that lions will take an opportunity, especially with an ill one or a young giraffe, but it's mostly humans.

We suck. We do suck. Steady, steady, steady. It's okay, Mill. Good girl. Millie's having a day today. Ellie's not okay with life today. She's got the Monday scleros. Hi. They're very judgy. Yeah, I felt judged right then. The side eye was strong. they are really like again sensitive to new people changes so change of uniform change of colour if i wore a hat and i don't normally wear a hat that would be a problem yeah but that's just because you don't look good in hats maybe that's what it is all this time i've just been wearing them they're like wear a good hat no problem but again judging me they're very judging is there

anything that like people do that's not good that you're like oh god this is going to wind the giraffes up if like people are being particularly loud or they're not very good with like loud noises sort of movement so if people appear out of nowhere it can scare them um high vis they're not the best with high vis clothing um so they'll just stand and stare at you and judge you again again it's just ugly they just don't like bad clothes zookeeper abbey i'm going to have to pause you right there this is studio abbey from the future with a quick story just after we finished recording with caroline we passed a group of children arriving for a day at the zoo zoo, all dressed in high-vis. I think we know where the giraffe's hate for high-vis comes from.

So it's my first few weeks. Well, what does it take to be a giraffe keeper? So I feel like today we've done all the nice stuff. We've given the food. We've seen them out on the sun, but actually there's quite a lot of poo to pick up. So I think we need to try you out on the poo picking. Oh, maybe not. Maybe I'll just do the, no, they all poo. Okay. And why did you pick giraffes? Did you pick? Yeah. So I have grown up with horses, so I like who stock and that kind of zebras, giraffes, and who doesn't want to work with a giraffe? Yeah, they are just really big horses. They're more like cows. Oh, really? Yeah. But I feel like when they run, that's such a little gallop.

They're very graceful when they run. It's more horsey run, but actually the giraffe design, the feet, the kind of stomach digestive system is more cow. I see. But I love cows too. They're all right. I mean, no. They're not a giraffe. They're not a giraffe, hence why. I'm looking after the drafts. If you want to hear more about the work that the zoo is doing, head to chester zoo.org slash podcast.

This feels like the perfect time for me to tell you about my brand new Instagram and TikTok accounts. I've been filming loads of my zoo adventures for you to see as well as here. So if you want to see the giraffes enjoying the enrichment boxes I made them, or watch the team move 107 flamingos from A to B. You're going to want ahead to at trainee zookeeper. Speaking of Flamingos, I am dying to hear how their move went. I've moved to house more than my fair share of times,

and let me tell you, it's never easy, especially not when there's 107 of you. If you take that, I'll grab the legs. You have the body for now and then I'll pass you the legs because there's an awful lot of bird here. There's a lot going on. Only enough of 37 at the other end. Claire sounds like she's handling it very well.

She sounds very chill, very calm. very relaxed. So when we got here, because they're loose in the back of like the padded box, they can fall over and they had done. And then they sort of trample on each other and get a little bit stuck and a little bit difficult. And sometimes when that happens, they then don't want to get back up. And a couple, we let them go and they took a step and they just kept landing in the water and like kind of falling, not back and just like face planting the water. So there's one little one who just repeatedly did not want to hold its own weight. So just got it in a little dry space

just to recover for 20 minutes because I don't want it to fall in the water when we're not there when we're busy doing this. It's stood up now so it should be okay but I just need to put it somewhere just a little protection for 20 minutes

and then it should be fine with the rest of the group. It can happen. So a few flamingos are just having a moment sit in a dark room, check that they're all right, check that they can handle it. Much like I've even given blood.

It's sometimes hard, like we had a few fall down so then you're trying to untangle birds that have had a little bit of a trauma but it's much quicker. because you're not doing any of the process since you're literally grabbing, walking a few feet and letting them go.

So generally, it's nicer and quicker at this end. But yeah, sometimes they're a bit stressed because they've been moved around so they can be even more bitey than normal. So that's how the flamingos are on day one of their new home. But how about a few months later? Like when they do the reunion episode on maths. Hi, guys.

So, yeah, the flamingos moved in about, yeah, probably about two months ago now, wasn't it? Something like that. The first week they were kept locked in, shed because we didn't we needed them to know that was where the food was so we needed them to be familiar with the shed and everything like that because there's a whole new space for them as well and there was still some work to do in here and then after that we let them out and um it was amazing they went straight to this island which we've designed as nesting island for them so they went

straight there and even the oldest ones in their 70s are still going around swimming in the near the reeds and everything like that most of the time they do stay together and then they have friendships within the group so certain pairs are friends with other pairs and things like that and they kind of wander around you do end up with some years they'll think oh do you know what i don't want to be with you anymore i'll go with this one so um it depends as well if you you know if you've had to move one out we generally tend to select flamingos for export we think like you're paired with you so when you move to a new collection you'll go together because otherwise you end up if you if you think you're an 80 you could live to 80 years old and we just you know separate you from your

mate. So when we export them, we tend to make sure, right, Beryl and Jim, you go together and Daisy and whatever, you go together. And what about the highly anticipated Flamingo housemate arguments? Were there any fights, any rivalries? They get on fine with the ducks. So a lot of these flamingos have previously lived with waterfowl, but a lot of the waterfowl have not lived with flamingos. So they're finding out when the flamingos are messing around in the water, sometimes you get like the Bayer's poachards and the white-headed ducks will swim between the legs because they'll try and eat the bits that the flamingas have disturbed from the bottom of the pond, which is really nice. And that's also what you'd see sometimes in the wild as well.

I really feel like I've been thrown in at the deep end today. And so to take the edge off, I'm heading back to see my faves, the otters, to feed them that fish that we prepared earlier. It's giving Blue Peter. He's quite dominant when it comes to feeding, so we always try and feed him first. Once he takes his fish, he'll shoot off and then she'll come in and she'll take her second fish. Give it to her. Oh, I messed up. I'm so sorry. It's okay. I don't move about it. We'll say again. I was apologising to her, but she's snapping off. It's okay. So there was like a gridded gate slash door. They were behind and we were having to

kind of squidge fish through like one of those children's match the shape to the whole toys, but the fish was not the right shape. And as an otter would grab a either fish tail or fish head. the scales would scrape off with the force of the pull. They were glistening on the floor like it was the day after pride. Oh, he's gone into the pool to eat it, is that I think? Normally they jump straight into the water. They feel most safe in the water, and it's where they can essentially protect the food

from predators that might try and eat fish outside of the water. So he's already finished, he's rapid, so you can go for another one if you like. Okay, give you a tail this time. I was trying to feed just fish tails. for as long as I possibly could. I was avoiding the heads. And then slowly the bucket went down and down

and I eventually had to feed a fish head to an otter. So the teeth are used like razor blades. So they'll come one way and cut side on and then teeth on the other side will come the other way and they'll sort of chop and chop and chop and chop and chop until the fish is all gone. That's when they come again. And I assume they don't get a stitch?

I don't think so. Brilliant question from me. Do otters get stitches? Honestly, Michaela Strachan, look out, I'm coming after your job. You can see over here, he's rubbing sand on himself now. Yeah. Oh, she is, sorry. She's gone back home there you?

Well, you feel free now? Why don't you come back like that? You've jumped back in the war, yeah. She's rolling in the dirt. She loves a good little play. You catch them quite often doing that to one another. And it helps with the skin as well. Get to have any pests or any termites and things that might be attached to them.

Hey, are we planning any family ventures for these guys? Oh, hopefully so. You can see they are snuggling. Snuggling off, inseparable. that's the plan. These guys are here for our breeding purposes. They're both part of the European breeding programme. And we've seen some meetings, but we can't be too sure. It's very hit and miss. So all we can hope is that they keep getting on the way they are and I'm sure no doubt we will have some in the future. And how do you check whether she's pregnant yet? So naturally

her weight will be gained. So naturally she'll put on a bit of weight. Her appetite will become significantly more because obviously she's feeding for more than just herself at that point. And her teats, so her teats become very visible under the water. She didn't like you to talk about my teeth. She was like, don't you be talking about my teeth? It was private. We've had many successful litters in the past. So no doubt if these guys are anything like the previous ones

will be good. There is so much spooning happening as we talk. It's intense, isn't it? Yeah, there's the head rested on the belly and the back. They're putting on quite a show. What's so good about these guys? I mean, what isn't so good about these guys? I think the way they are and the way the act

and the personalities, you become so attached to them. I think as a group as well, as a duo, being so insensible, it's so nice to have two individuals that are like this with one another. You take a lot of pride in it as well, you know, knowing that I can look after both of these and these two can have an amazing, lovely life together and be able to do what they want when they want.

It's so easy to take so much pride into it. And again, they do it for you, to be honest. The way they are, the behaviour is how they act, how they are with one another. It's so hard not to love them and love to work with them. They're just so exciting, so enthusiastic, just a proper joy. And it's so different with them every day because they do have their own little unique things about him.

And it's almost like something different every day with these guys. Like some days you can't shut him up and then some days he's just quiet as a mouse and intrigues you. And I think they're intrigued by us as well. You know, the fact that we're able to. to sit here now and they're so calm, he's almost going to sleep, you know, they're just so comfortable and again, it's something you naturally take pride in. How did you become King of the Otters? How are you? King of the Yotter.

Are you? I don't know. I am not. I'm assuming King of the Yotters. I do regret that. I do regret King of the Yotters. But I think it's now on Fraser's Wall. I think he loved it. So I started actually as an apprentice. So August 2022, I started as an apprentice here. The first ever apprenticeship scheme ran by Chester for zookeepers. So I started here, yeah, in August 2022, and I did a two-year course, which consisted of working with carnivore-specific animals. So this was the otters, but it was also various other animals. And throughout them two years, you learn how to look after them, what to do, lots of different things. And, you know, not that it was super-duper intense, but in a way that you enjoy it.

Did me two years, got my qualification, and then off the back of that, I was kept on. So I got made permanent August of 2024, so I've two years on. This is my full-time job now. And it was really, really beneficial because I didn't go to uni, don't have a degree, nothing like that. And usually zookeeping, you tend to have to get a degree to do something like this. So doing an apprenticeship scheme, allowing me to get into the door and off the back of it, King of the Oz.

Well, now officially titled, I'm willing. But did you pick the otters? No, no. So you get more. multiple animals on a section. So our section varies from lions, tigers, burrs. And just all things you'd find in, I survived a blood attack. Yeah, pretty much.

And trust me, they might as fit into that category. I've watched the YouTube video. There was a woman, yeah. It's not bad. She didn't, she got attacked. But I feel like that's the most embarrassing. It's not the same thing. I survived a shark attack.

That's true. Not as intense. It's one you'd maybe keep fire. So, yeah. And in that category, Our otters are here, so... The fearsome beast. The face and beast, trust me.

And you want to be? It doesn't look like it at all. Not right now. You're making me look bad here. Their love language is definitely touch. Touch and fish. Touch and fish, lots of fish. 100% I could be an otter keeper.

I love the otters. I love Fraser as well. I think me and Fraser vibes. The chemistry. Spectacular. No, no weird way. Just we got on. I think I would fit in on the carnival team.

they've got all the cool animals really let's be honest um i would have to get over handling let's call it meat but i did quite quickly get over that to be honest even as the otters skinned the fish of scales as they ripped them through the gate and they just they had such a personality there's only two of them you get to know them quick it felt like Fraser had a relationship with them not in a weird way again. Just like he knew them. It felt like they knew him. You're not going to lose count. That's not a risk. There's two. There's always been two. They're pretty big. They're adorable. They're pleased to see you. Whether it's because you've got food or not, I'll take the validation in any form. I'd 100% be it on. I'd 100% be it on. I'll keep it yet.

That's it for my first day. on the job. I've met two otters in love. The flamingos have settled into their new pad and I definitely have giraffe saliva in my hair. Safe to say, I'm knackered. But honestly, I am buzzing. Am I ready for five more weeks of this chaos? Absolutely. I can't wait to see what other animals the zoo throws at me. Training sauce is unlike any other animal. You can ask for a behaviour and get the response in five minutes. She would go out and find multiple males in a breeding season. Whilst the original male stays with the eggs and rears the chicks. And it was the nuns that realized that the species was actually declining in the wild.

Thank you for tagging along with me for moral support on my first day as a trainee keeper. If you head to at trainee zookeeper on Instagram and TikTok, you can see some of my favorite interactions from the day. I've been Abby Clark and this has been Zookeeper in Training. I'll see you next week. Thank you.