Rochelle Bishop
Section/animals worked with
Education Centre
How long have you been working as a zookeeper/vet/vet nurse?
I have been working at Taronga as an Education Officer for five years. I am a trained teacher with a degree in Primary School education.
How did you get into your profession?
During my teacher training at university I decided that I would like to pursue a career in environmental education. When I left uni I worked full time as a primary school teacher in several schools. My dream job was to eventually work at Taronga Zoo as an environmental education officer. Eventually I achieved my goal, in 2004 I was fortunate enough to get at job opportunity as an educator at the zoo.
Since working at the zoo, I have also become a volunteer with Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services, assisting with animal rescues, rehabilitation, hand raising orphaned animals and re releasing animals back to their habitats.
What do you love most about your job?
I think I have the most amazing job in the world! In my job I inspire people of all ages to make a personal contribution to conservation. As a teacher I engage and positively influence students' attitudes to wildlife and encourage behaviour changes that protect the environment and wildlife.
I believe that encouraging students to become wildlife ambassadors will be the key to species survival in the future.
What has been the wildest moment of your career so far?
Last year I was fortunate enough to volunteer at a Chimpanzee Sanctuary in DRC Congo in Africa.
This was one of the wildest and most amazing experiences of my life. Being a "chimp mum" for orphaned chimpanzees and volunteering my time to care for orphaned and confiscated animals within this sanctuary was a life changing experience. Play time with the baby chimps was always a lot of fun - there was always plenty of rough play and when the "play date" ended you left the sanctuary smelling like poo, a few extra bruises and looking like you had just been through a tornado!
This experience has inspired me to continually raise money for the sanctuary which will assist with caring for these animals needs. I am hoping that one day these animals will be able to be released back into the wild!
