Animal Diaries Archive

Multi-Skilling

4 March 2005

We have had a good week in the bird show this week at Australia Zoo. All the birds are enjoying their work and are looking forward to performing each day. It is funny the little things that the birds pick up on whilst they are waiting for the show. Some of the birds have taken to listening for cues other then from their trainers as it is coming up to show time. These cues make the birds aware of the upcoming show and they start to get excited and vocal whilst waiting. Things like the sounds of people's footsteps as they enter the Crocoseum, the sound of the voices in the crowd, all of the audio from the demos leading up to the show, and the one that really gets the birds going is the sound of the introduction package that is played on the big screen before the birds come out into the arena. Whilst all of the birdies are going well, it gives us the chance to have a look at the keeping side to the bird show. When the Zoo first opened there was only a few staff. For this reason it was important that all of these staff were multi skilled. That means that they were able to feed crocodiles, clean out camel enclosures, handle snakes at demos and even help out in the front shop. As the Zoo has grown and the number of staff has increased the level of multi-skilling between the animal sections is not as emphasised with each section having dedicated full time staff. It is now just the lucky casuals that get to work in a lot of different sections throughout the Zoo however it is always good to for the staff to have a change in routine. That is exactly what Jodi got this week when she was asked to take the sheep from the petting zoo for a quick graze around the Zoo! She loved it and as a result Jodi has become one of the valuable multi-skilled staff here at the Zoo. Good work Jodie!