Jaine Blackman meets two of the women keepers going animal crackers at Cotswold Wildlife Park

‘Sorry for the delay in contacting you, I’ve been a bit preoccupied hand-rearing a tawny frogmouth for the last week.”

It’s not the usual type of email you receive from someone you want to interview but Jade Stott doesn’t have the usual type of occupation.

Jade, 27, of Burford, has been a keeper at Cotswold Wildlife Park for about three-and-a-half years, a job which revolves around the birds and animals she cares for.

“Usually my day begins around 7.30am and ends at 5pm,” says Jade, 27.

“However one of the perks of the bird section is the opportunity to hand-rear certain birds in the breeding season, March to October. So at the moment I can start as early as 6.30am for the chicks’ first feed and finish at 8pm after their supper.”

It’s a testimony to her passion for her work that she considers this a perk.

Jade’s career came about “by luck and circumstance”.

“I graduated from Edinburgh University back in 2009 after studying zoology and didn’t really know in what capacity I wanted to work with animals,” says Jade.

“I’d tried a few different avenues but knew they weren’t really for me.

“My mum lived in Witney until recently and suggested I try to get a voluntary position at the park in the meantime. I actually applied for a six-week work experience placement in the end on primates and reptiles and it all fell into place after that.”

It took a year of working full-time on an internship until a vacancy for a trainee keeper in the mammals department came up and Jade joined the team.

“After two years I realised that my passion was for all things avian and so was transferred to the bird department February last year,” she says.

“A lot of my duties revolve around ensuring the birds are fed, watered and cleaned which takes up a large portion of my day.

“There are many other aspects to the job though such as redesigning enclosures to suit the birds’ requirements better. Or preparing the animals/ exhibits for the oncoming breeding season and of course incubating any eggs which we’re particularly interested in breeding this season.”

The job requires a certain level of fitness and stamina but Jade says it is perfectly manageable as a female keeper.

“A lot of the time I find mental strength goes along way,” she says.

“Since my short employment at the park more female keepers have been employed. Whether this is a trend across zoos or just within this particular collection I’m not sure, but the job is definitely seen as more accessibly to women now compared to 20 years ago, when there were only a handful of female keepers employed here.”

It’s clear Jade loves her work.

“There are occasional bad days, like in any job, but after putting them into perspective they’re opportunities to learn and evolve as a keeper,” she says.

“As far as the best bits, simply being able to work with and care for some amazing animals is a privilege. It is easy to forget and become bogged down with the routine that sometimes it’s necessary to just take a step back and digest what I do for a living. I am very lucky. My friends and family are happy with my career path (nothing to do with the behind the scenes tours I’m sure).

“It’s something out of the ordinary and always a good topic for conversation and hopefully a career I’ll be in for a long time to come.”

Cotswold Wildlife Park has 25 keepers who live on-site and are available in emergencies 24/7.
They look after 1,512 animals from 258 different species from the smallest leaf cutter ant to the largest giraffe.
To be a keeper there are various qualifications, from animal care to zoology degrees, depending on how people want their career to progress. The park also takes volunteers.
cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/