Two Tipperary student's work experience was an adventure they won't forget

TY students Sarah Noonan and Megan Gannon were lucky enough to undertake their week work experience in Fota Wildlife Park, This piece was written by Sarah Noonan. 

Day 1: Carnivores 

I arrived at Fota around 10am for induction and to be shown around. I was brought to the staff building, and me and the two other TY students were split between the three sections of the park which included Carnivores, primates and hoof stock. I was placed in Carnivores for my first day. This involved animals such as lions and tigers, but also the birds, red pandas and animals inside the tropics and Madagascar house. 

My first task was to feed cheetahs. I would run in and out of stalls with the food next to the cheetahs, and they would be brought in one at a time until they were all locked up. Next we cleaned their enclosures, and I got the chance to talk with and ask questions with the ranger.. 

Next we prepared food for and fed the red pandas. Next we went to feed the penguins and I got to enter their enclosure and feed them. I learned about the penguins, their names and characteristics/ personalities. I think Kenny was my favourite, with Dorian being a very close second. 

We then went around feeding birds and other free roaming animals, where we finally ended up in the tiger house for feeding. It was an intense atmosphere inside the big cats house in both the lion and tiger houses, which I visited on Day 1 listening to the roars and growls and getting to see these animals was a surreal experience I cannot express.

Day 2: Primates

This section included animals such as lemurs and monkeys. We went around to the primates such as the mangabeys, spider monkeys, drills, howler monkeys, black and white ruffed lemurs and ring tailed lemurs and so on. 

Basically we went around to these monkeys and cleaned out their enclosures and fed them, they had to be fed three times a day, and I got informed about each species about the primates names, where they originate, status of whether it is endangered and more facts about what they do with them by the lovely ranger I was paired with for most of the day. 

My favourite part of the day was getting to visit saki monkeys and feed them nuts out of my hands as well as getting to see the baby spider monkey up close. However I most enjoyed chatting with the ranger I was paired with for most of my day as she was incredibly friendly and gave me amazing advice about this career and many facts on primates.

Day 3: Hoofstock (hoofies) 

This section included ruminants of the horse family/ other animals such as rhinos, giraffes, oryx, lechwe and so on.

This section is by far the most physical, the first part of the day was spent in the giraffe house. I was mucking out the zebra stable and taking down old branches from the giraffe enclosure. You have to be cautious in the giraffe house as there animals such as ostriches and zebras to one side and giraffes on the other. You cannot stand too close to either side in case you get hit or frighten any if the animals as zebras can startle extremely easily. During this time, I got to hand feed the giraffes and learn about them. 

The middle of the day was spent at the bison and oryx house also mucking out and giving them new branches. I got to ask lots of questions during my day in hoofstock, and was told about the many different career paths and courses I could do with animals, and was advised that having experience in the career sector is just as important as a degree and can sometimes be more important.

Day 4: Carnivores

By day four we had experienced all three sections so we got the opportunity to choose which sections we would like to be on for the day so I decided to do carnivore. 

Firstly we went to the cheetah house to give medication to a cheetah Chloe for a cut on her leg and fed them. We then cleaned their enclosure and then houses. We then prepared food and fed the red pandas. I think that Bonnie was my favourite panda, but they were all adorable.

This day was extremely busy for the park as they were moving animals to other parks as well as getting lechwe deer and a tiger called Jambe (she was beautiful). They had one tiger Denar leaving and some cheetahs from carnivores. This move was incredibly stressful for the rangers but especially for the animals.

I was present for the tigers moving but for obvious safety reasons I had to step back for the majority of the moves. This was difficult as they had a tiger leaving at the same time as one arriving. Both tigers were extremely stressed, but thanks to the talented ranger, the moves went smoothly and without any issues..

They also moved the cheetahs that were all brothers, I believe they may have been going to France, but I am not certain. We also checked up on another cheetah Grainne who is due to have cubs on Sunday, February 26.

Day 5: Hoofstock

We also got to choose our sections for our last day, and I chose hoofstock.First we loaded up the buggy with food and hay bales and went around to the tapirs and capybara first where I got to learn about them. We then went to see the pigs and lechwe. Here I prepared the pigs Sergio and Juanita's food.

Next I went to the rhino house where I used the rhinos target training to lead them out through a rewarding system when they followed and touched their nose of the brush I held.

Jamil the male rhino had to have medication spread on his back, so we had to use his training where I would state his command “jamil side’ and keep him there until the ranger completed medicating him. Lastly, the other male rhino had a cut foot, so using the brush I gave him the command to lift his left foot so it could be disinfected in a footbath and sprayed with disinfectants.

This was my favourite part of my week's experience as I got not only to be close to the rhinos and feed them but also got to give the rhinos commands and learned how they train them. We then cleaned their pens and headed back to the canteen for break.

I then went to the oryx house and cleaned it out while chatting to one of the newer members, who provided me with tons of advice and talked about our own lives and similar interests in sports and hobbies. I then cleaned the yard and finished mucking out the oryx and bison stables. 

Lastly, I spent my evening in the giraffe house. I got to stand in on a demonstration on how to operate their tractor. We then rearranged the feedbag warehouse. I then gathered tree branches for the giraffes, and then I was shown how to correctly tie the knots to tie up branches in the giraffes house, however I was not any bit of a natural learner at this, and I applaud the rangers patience with me.  

Overall, although I will definitely not miss the 6am mornings and the 7:30 am train from Cobh, I will miss the park and all of the fun I had there. I would highly recommend doing a week of work experience at Fota Wildlife if you ever get the chance as it is a once in a lifetime experience. I have learned more about life as a ranger than I ever thought possible.

Everyone there was extremely friendly and had so much advice about the best thing to do if I was looking to pursue this career and they were also honest about the up and downsides of this job, which I think is incredibly important to know what to expect if you were to purus ethos career and not just paint it as a great job with not downsides. I got to see what it is truly like and that it is a lot of hard work and a simple job to do. 

Contributed to School Days in the Tipperary Star by St Mary's Newport