International Zookeeper Day takes place on October 4th 2016 and Hobbledown is marking the event by introducing you to some of its animal keeper team.

The day aims to recognise the contribution zookeepers make to the care and conservation of exotic animals.

At Hobbledown we have six keepers who look after our 400+ animals, under the watchful eye of our animal curator Angela Lambert. These breeds range from otters, meerkats, raccoon dogs and coati to our reptiles and invertebrates, llamas, alpacas, nilgai, deer, traditional farm animals and more.

Our zookeeper’s responsibility includes feeding, maintaining and cleaning the animals, diet preparation, behavioural observation, record keeping, exhibit maintenance and providing environmental enrichment for the animals in their care.

The keepers also carry out daily animal talks and feedings here at Hobbledown which is part of our educational programme.

Here are some of our team pictured with their favourite animals: