Animal caretaker Max

A behind-the-scenes look with zookeeper Max

Introducing

Max is an animal keeper at ZooParc. He is responsible for the predators. These include the lions, tigers, cheetahs, wild dogs and fossas. He also still occasionally takes care of the ring-tailed lemurs, pygmy hippos and ungulates (such as giraffes and mhorgazelles). Besides taking care of the predators, Max does much more at ZooParc!

Predator animal handlers

Each species is different, which is why there are different teams, each with its own expertise. The team in charge of predators or carnivores consists of five permanent animal caretakers. Within this team they spar with each other about safety and assessing situations. Predators can be very dangerous.

Feed presentations

In addition to feeding and caring for the animals, Max, like Robby himself, sometimes gives feeding presentations. With the predators, this is often done with several animal caretakers. With the wild dogs, for example, he sometimes does this together with Robby. He then takes the wild dogs inside, hides the meat in the enclosure, leaves the enclosure himself and lets the wild dogs out again. Meanwhile, Robby then takes the visitors into the story about the wild dogs.

Social media including the brazzameer cat in front of the camera

In addition to the duties already mentioned, Max is also the contact person for Libéma's head office. For example, he receives the social media messages to check if all the information in the messages is correct before it is posted. Maybe you have seen Max himself on ZooParc's social media, he sometimes appears in front of the camera to share fun facts about the animals in the park. Besides being in front of the camera sometimes, he is also behind it sometimes. He sometimes shares fun photos and videos he takes himself in the park while taking care of the animals. Of course, as a zookeeper, you see a lot of fun and special things! For example, one time he went to take a picture of a young brazzama cat, but then another brazzama cat came into view. He was so curious that he put his face in front of the camera! Those are really nice moments.

Manure samples and containers

Max also makes sure that samples are taken from the manure of the various animal species. This is because the manure sometimes has to be sent for examination. He is therefore responsible for this. In addition, there is of course a lot of waste within a zoo. Think, for example, of the bone remains from the meat the lions have eaten. This kind of waste has to be disposed of in separate containers. Max makes sure that these containers are emptied regularly.

Organizing events

As you can read, Max has many different tasks besides being a zookeeper. What he is also still involved in is organizing events such as the Schemertours and Dinner at the Zoo.

Archers

Predators can be extremely dangerous to humans. Therefore, in emergency situations, animal handlers must be able to act. There are a number of shooters designated in the park; Max is one of them. Tom and Koen are the other shooters. The shooters are responsible in case a dangerous animal ever escapes in the park, they can "take out" the animal if necessary. This is practiced regularly. For example, once a month Max and his colleagues can be found at the shooting range practicing target shooting. There was even an exercise in the park once, where an emergency situation was simulated and the ZooParc team was trained on how to act. The skills of Max, Tom and Koen are regularly used when administering medication and anesthetics through a blowgun. After all, there are a lot of animals that you cannot get very close to in order to administer medication.

Cheetah deworming

Many animal species are also dewormed regularly. Cheetahs and lions are a good example. These species fall under the feline category and, like domestic cats, must be dewormed from time to time. Actually, it works in much the same way as pets do. They are then given a pill. But, of course, you can't just give it to them. That's why they get deworming medication in the form of a powder over meat. Below are pictures of how the cheetah is dewormed. The cheetah is then offered a piece of meat with the powder over it, a tasty snack actually! This is offered this way through the zookeeper and on a small piece of meat that he can indicate directly in the mouth, so he can see if the animal has really finished it completely and which one is taking the medication.

Special moment

For Max, though, the birth of the fossa was something that really stuck with him. That was so special because the fossa is a very vulnerable species and is threatened with extinction. Breeding fossas is also very difficult so that was very special when young were born. ZooParc was in fact the very first zoo in the Netherlands with young fossas.

Recognizability

What is fun and striking is that many of the animal species really recognize the zookeepers. The animal caretakers all wear blue recognizable ZooParc polo shirts. Everywhere you walk with the animal caretakers, you are followed by the animals. To what extent they recognize the person themselves is a question. Certain species will be able to, but by no means all. What was also fun was that Max recently walked through the park as a visitor, in his "normal" clothes, and then he noticed that certain animals really recognized his voice, like the cheetahs. He thought that was pretty special to see!

Final round

At the end of the day, when almost all the visitors have left, Max goes on one last round. In this case, he went to feed the cheetahs and tigers. He also checks one more time that all the enclosures, especially the dangerous ones, are really well locked so that no animals can escape. This safety check is very important with this category of animals and is therefore carried out every day.