I'm back on the computer again, hopefully with long enough to get down everything I want to and check for the numerous typos that I make. The state of my last blog was frankly appalling. I shall try harder this time. Zoo Events As I mentioned before, I've been placed on the African savannah section of the zoo. Just for two days, this placement, which is OK with me as there isn't really a great deal to do here. Not that it isn't a packed section of the zoo - a large enclosure with giraffes, zebra, ostriches, flamingo and an ankole [View Full Entry]

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It's been a little while since my last blog, as I have been a busy little zoo man. I have many things to witter on about, so today I'm going to be efficient and use headered subsections. Marvel. The Zooniverse Been having a fine but utterly exhausting time of it at the zoo. I spent three days with the chimps, which was a bit of a chore as the main ape keeper clearly doesn't like having volunteers there. Rather than tell us what to do and correct us if we get it wrong, he just takes things off us and does [View Full Entry]

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Hello there once again, I'm going to start this blog with a little explanation of where I am, as not everyone seems to know that much about Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states, nine of which are monarchies, split between Malaya, the peninsula in the west, and Borneo, the island in the east, which are seperated by the South China Sea. I'm in Taiping, a town in the state of Perak, in the north-western area of Malaya. Perak is the oldest kingdom in the country, and Taiping is one of the oldest towns. They actually claim it's a city, [View Full Entry]

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Farewell to Zoo Taiping Thurs 20/03/08 And so again, another ending. The alarm clock rings its bell, and my eyes open up to the last day of being a zoo keeper. We all make an extra effort to get up and out of the house in good time, and maybe for the first time we arrive together, before 8am. Today has to go well. I don't want to end the zoo experience with a bad taste in my mouth. Things got a little out of hand the last few days, and communication in the group broke down badly. Today, the karma [View Full Entry]

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Here Comes the Sun Bear Mon 17/03 - 18/03/08 Hi-ho motherfuckers, back to work. Again, getting to the zoo on time doesn't go so well. We line up for our second, final, assembly. Prayers are said, words spoken and old school tunes played loud. Today, I'm working with Sun Bears. Jenny volunteers to help out and we meet our keeper, Jhotti, a 30-something Indian guy. Depressingly, the scenario is as it was with the big cats - many bears, only one enclosure. One family unit is released at a time, meaning at least six or seven bears have to spend their [View Full Entry]

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Lions and Tigers but not Bears, Oh My! Thurs 13/03 - 14/03/08 Today, I'm away from the Great Apes, and I get to play with the big guns - the kings and queens of the jungle. Tim is still unfit for work, so Tom is standing in for him today. We begin with the usual stuff - sweeping the road clear of leaves and cleaning out the main enclosure. Then, we step inside the night dens, beginning with the lions. This is a daunting experience. The keeper opens the iron door, and we walk down a long, dark corridor. On either [View Full Entry]

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OOOO-OOOO-OOOOOO Monday 10/03 - 12/03/08 Our first day at the zoo, and we all struggle out of bed in a daze. So much for being on time. So much for being professional. Everyone leaves in dribs and drabs. I stay behind to wait for Tim, and then we move out. We are supposed to be there for assembly at 7.50am, but it's gone eight by the time we all arrive. Thankfully, everyone else seems to be running late as well, and as we get there, all the zoo keepers line up and assembly begins. First, the Malaysian flag is raised. This [View Full Entry]

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