Many people consider a career with animals at least once in their lives, whether as a serious thought or as a passing one when cuddling a friend’s new puppy.
For those who have a more lasting affinity for furry friends, Phoebe Dowens is living the dream.
Phoebe started working at Edinburgh Zoo a decade ago before moving north in 2020 to take up a position at Highland Wildlife Park, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s second location.
Her love of animals is apparent in everything she does, from her early rises and not-so-glamorous daily tasks to the various animal tattoos that decorate her skin.
To allow us to live vicariously through her, Phoebe talked us through what a week working in the park looks like.
Animal enrichment
Phoebe works in the hoofstock section of the park, which includes camels, bison, Przewalski’s horses and red deer.
It is also home to a number of rare species you won’t find anywhere else in the UK, such as white-lipped deer, takin, tahr and Turkmanian markhor.
A large part of Phoebe’s job is enrichment, which encourages the animals to demonstrate natural behaviours and keeps them mentally and physically engaged.
The hoofstock team is also responsible for another of Highland Wildlife Park’s highly esteemed lodgers: the wolves.
They require more cognitive-based enrichment techniques than the hoofstock – which keeps the job exciting.
Phoebe said: “One of the best parts of working with the wolves is the training we do with them.
“We do re-call training a few times a week which involves keepers standing at different points around the enclosure, throwing small chunks of meat and blowing a whistle which brings the wolves to that point.
“We also set up some sensory enrichment for the wolves by spreading peanut butter and smelly fish oil in the show-off part of their enclosure. This gives them a positive association with the area, as it’s where we would dart them for any medical reason.”
Fussy eaters
Looking after the hoofstock requires more focus on their environment, which means different things for each species.
The location of the park, at Kingussie just south of Aviemore, means the team are spoilt for natural resources.
“During the bad storms last winter we had a lot of trees fall down, so we’ve been able to make large log piles for our climbing species to enjoy,” said Phoebe.
“Browse, which is woody vegetation, is an important part of the diet for most of our animals. We go out and collect it from local estates and sometimes people’s gardens.”
Browse ranges from Scots pine and heather to willow and birch, with the European elk and forest reindeer requiring more every day.
They won’t eat just anything though.
Phoebe explained: “Our forest reindeer are quite fussy about browse and don’t actually enjoy scots pine, so we have to be creative for them in winter.
“For the last few years, we have spent summer months collecting extra browse and stripping the leaves off the branches, popping them into a freezer and using those leaves during winter to feed the reindeer.”
The yak and takin are easier to please, as massive mounds of dirt to climb, run and roll on suit them fine.
Not so glamorous
Despite being a vegetarian herself, Phoebe doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty if it means keeping the wolves strong and healthy.
“The wolves have a completely different diet; all our hoofstock species are vegetarian but the wolves are carnivorous,” she said.
“I’ve got a pretty iron stomach when it comes to most things so doing the butchery side of care for these guys is something I have no problem with.”
This is just one of the elements of the job that isn’t as cute as the idea of looking at the faces of animals all day.
In fact, a lot of Phoebe’s job requires being at the other end of them.
“Working as a zookeeper at Highland Wildlife Park is nothing if not glamorous,” said Phoebe.
“You’ll often find me holding a bag of poo.
“Collecting poo might not seem like a fun job, but it is an essential one. By doing this we can make sure that our animals are in the best health and it is a non-invasive way of providing medical care for them.”
When there has been snow or ice, the task is so epic the team even has a special name for it.
“One of the biggest parts of the role involves cleaning up lots and lots of poo,” explained Phoebe.
“Snow and ice can leave the team with a lot more to tidy up than usual, so we call it ‘the big reveal’. It is a hugely satisfying part of the job.”
Keep up with Phoebe and the team at Highland Wildlife Park on Instagram and Facebook, or book your visit at highlandwildlifepark.org.uk
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