From volunteer to keeper: three students share their first year

The transition from volunteer to keeper looks tidy from the outside. From the inside it is mostly long days, tired feet, and the slow realisation that the work you saw on weekends was the visible 10 per cent of the job.

What surprised them

I expected the animals to be the hard part. They were not. The hard part was learning to be reliable for the team.

All three keepers we spoke to said the same thing: the technical skills came faster than they had expected, and the relational skills came slower.

Showing up at the right time, with the right kit, in the right state of mind — that turned out to be the actual job description.

Advice for their day-one selves

• Carry a notebook and use it. The diet board changes more often than you think.
• Ask questions before they become problems, not after.
• Volunteer for the unglamorous tasks early — drains, fence checks, deep cleans. That is where you learn the site.