Gemma Watkinson
What are the animals that you work with?
I have worked as a Nurse in private practice, as well as the zoo, so I guess to summarise, I have worked with a very large range of animals of domestic and exotic origin.
How long have you been working as a vet nurse?
I started my career with animals at the age of 13, where I started working as a volunteer at an animal welfare shelter. I became a veterinary nurse when I finished school 12 years ago, and started working at Taronga as a vet nurse and zookeeper 2 years ago.
How did you get into vet nursing as a profession?
After working as a vet nurse with domestic animals for 10 years, I decided I needed a little change. I had a keen interest in wildlife and conservation, as well as a passion for all animals, so I thought a zoological park would be the perfect place for me. I started doing volunteer work in our reptile division, then some volunteer work in the Veterinary Hospital at Taronga, until a permanent position became available. I was successful!
What's the most interesting thing about your job?
Taronga Zoo is just such a fantastic place to work. I am constantly blown away by all the amazing people I meet here at the zoo on a daily basis. I love knowing that I work for a conservation society, and am 'doing my bit' for the earth. And of course, I love all of the beautiful animals I get to work with everyday.
What has been the wildest moment of your career so far?
Some of the wildlife releases that I have taken part in have been pretty wild. With rehabilitated large sea birds, usually we're met at the zoo wharf by Sydney Water Police or National Parks and Wildlife Service. We travel out to sea, usually between 5-10 km out. We have to deal with big seas, plus the awkwardness of trying to restrain an animal with the boat rocking about.
One of my last trips out, a mother and calf humpback whale were swimming about 5 metres away from our boat. It was incredible! Another pretty wild experience I had was to have to catch an escaped wallaby, with nothing to help me but my bare hands. Needless to say, I was far more traumatised than the animal. We also got to rescue a leopard seal from the Royal National Park. We were unable to get access to the beach where the animal was, so we had to bushwalk, with the seal rescue equipment on a stretcher.
