Meet the keeper
As part of BIAZA’s Love Your Zoo Week, we’re taking you behind the scenes at WWT Castle Espie to meet the people caring for our living collections and helping protect wetland wildlife every day.
Meet Miryam Saraceni, Senior Living Collections Keeper.
What first inspired you to work with animals and living collections?
An interest in conservation initially inspired by Jane Goodall - who through her work made me feel empowered to go my own way and think for myself/out of the box when it comes to understanding animal behaviour which while no one will ever fully understand every individuals behaviour, learning what you can and realising you will constantly be learning, goes a long way in aiding conservation works and all aspects of animal management.
I have always held a deep love for under-represented/misunderstood species, and my desire to continuously learn more about them pressed me to pursue this as both a career and a "hobby" which go hand in hand.
I have always been a birder and a keen aviculturist in my spare time, which led me to my first zoo job at Exmoor Zoo working with a wide variety of avian taxa, successfully breeding species such as Mindanao bleeding-heart doves and Bali starling as part of wider breeding programmes. This role was one of the main stepping stones to where I am now, it began shaping me as a keeper and it was there I found where I wanted to go in terms of career.
What’s your favourite part of your role as Senior Living Collections Keeper?
The most rewarding part for me has to be that I learn more about the unique species I manage every day while working with wonderful people doing wonderful things for conservation across sites and departments. I'm always doing something, and it's always something I'm passionate about/for that purpose.
Do you have a favourite species in the collection right now, and why?
There will never be a proper answer to this question, but two species I'm excited to be working with currently, would be the light-bellied Brents and Barrow's Goldeneye - neither seen very often in UK zoos, they both have very unique personalities and behaviours, and challenge me to constantly develop as a keeper.
What’s one thing you wish everyone knew about animal care and welfare?
Meeting welfare requirements per individuals in captivity, maintaining and improving welfare standards overall, isn't as simple as food, water and shelter, it's not black and white, or the same for every animal of the same species either. It can be extremely challenging, and not always easy to make decisions that may be in the best interest of an animal's welfare. On the other hand, there are many factors that can influence an animals current and future welfare state, and that's where zoo animals and all wildlife wherever you are, rely on you to only affect it positively by respecting each individual animal, their choices and their habitats.
Describe your job in three words.
Purposeful. Developing. Challenging.
What’s one animal fact you never get tired of sharing?
Drakes have very long corkscrew penises and ducks genitalia made to accommodate this (explained here) https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/duck-penis-corkscrew)
