Bradd Johnston
What animals do you work with?
I work with Elephants.
How long have you been working as a zookeeper/vet/vet nurse?
I have worked as a Zoo Keeper at Taronga Zoo for four and a half years.
How did you get into zookeeping/vet/vet nursing as a profession?
I had always wanted to work with animals but had gone in a few different directions prior to joining Taronga Zoo. I was lucky enough to work temporarily in a few Game Reserves in Africa in 2002 which was a once in a lifetime opportunity and after returning home to Sydney realised that I had to continue a similar line of work.
I was successful in my application to become a volunteer on the African Division and fortunate to be considered for paid positions when they became available.
What do you love most about your job?
The relationships that we have built with our elephants, which has allowed me to become part of their family group. Spending most of my day with them, doing things such as swimming, playing and going on walks helps keep them active and busy. But knowing that they really enjoy the interaction and attention means you look forward to coming into work every day.
What has been the wildest moment of your career so far?
To be selected on the elephant team and finding myself in Thailand a few weeks later to assist in their journey home to Sydney is something that still amazes me. But by far the wildest moment for me arrived on the 30th July 2006 as I sat on a plastic bench seat, inside a Russian cargo plane, on a military base tarmac somewhere in Thailand, next to our young bull elephant Gung, while being handed a 'What to do in case of an emergency' card printed in Russian on our way to the Cocos Islands I think will be hard for me to beat.
How do you know it is time to move Gung to his specialised breeding facility? Explain his behaviour as he progresses from an adolescent into a strong bull elephant.
Gung has now reached sexual maturity, so just like he would in the wild it is time for him to leave the female elephant herd.
Gung has now been observed mating with our older females which is fantastic but also means he now wants & thinks he deserves to breed all the time even when the females are trying to tell him 'no'.
Our matriarch Porntip has recently demonstrated to Keepers that she is tiring of Gung's constant sexual advances and the sparring and jousting which accompanies this mating behaviour is becoming more intense and forceful.
Whilst this behaviour is completely natural, this constant sparring behaviour can cause injury and with two pregnant females already and Australia's first elephant calf due in mid 2009 the time has come for Gung to set out on his own just as he would in the wild.
As Gung matures, he is becoming more boisterous & disruptive. He is growing fast and when fully grown will weigh in excess of 5 tonnes. Gung will also start to enter into periods of musth which is a state of heightened testosterone & aggression.
It is important to note that when Gung moves he will not be lonely. All young male elephants undertake this journey in their life cycle. His new facility has a heated barn with hot & cold showers, a pool, mud wallow, & sleeping mounds.
Gung will also have regular daily contact with keepers who he is bonded to and will have regular contact with the female elephants who will come down to visit him.
