Animal Diaries Archive

Bird Show farewells a Great Mate

26 October 2007

This week the bird show crew said 'Bon Voyage' to Lefty (aka Frank Mikula). Lefty was highly respected and one of only a few senior keepers here at the zoo and Head Keeper of the bird show section. After almost 8 years of working with crocodiles and free-flight training parrots, seabirds and raptors, he made the hard decision to pursue raptor rehabilitation in South Australia and also support his partner Brigitte who has dreams of opening a wombat facility down there also.

Lefty will be sorely missed not only by his bird show team but the majority of keepers at Australia Zoo, who knew him to be a knowledgeable source of information and always willing to lend a hand wherever possible. He proved himself to be a very reliable hardworking team member and manager.

Birds, and in particular raptors were Lefty's passion, but his time was divided between helping out with crocodile demonstrations, joining the lads on the annual croc trips up in Northern Australia and jumping on the odd emu in the effort to relocate it.

I can't think of one person who is not going to miss Lefty's sense of humour (king of the one liner), his unreadable writing and his devotion to his craft. His natural ability with the birds was amazing to watch and we feel blessed and privileged to have worked next to him. We hope to continue and develop his bird show for many years to come.
GOODBYE & GOOD LUCK