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The best job in the zoo-niverse
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| Andrew Westbrook gets ready to feed SpongeBob and Quince |
I fear this could be my final report as a journalist.
As charming as my colleagues are, to be honest they are struggling to compete with my new friends SpongeBob the squirrel monkey and Fatty Buddha the lemur.
After spending a day really getting to know some of the cutest and cheekiest creatures you could hope to meet, I'm having to fight the temptation to just quit the office and run off of into the wild.
I had never been to Battersea zoo before last week. However, despite being quite openly obsessed with the animal world, I did not really know what to expect from such an inner-city set-up lacking the budget and scale of London Zoo.
But it soon became blindingly obvious why everyone's favourite tagline for the Battersea establishment is "London's hidden gem", and why last year Timeout named it the capital's best children's day out.
Tucked away within the majesty of Battersea Park and just a stone's throw from the Thames, the zoo is undoubtedly a treasure.
It manages to be small enough to keep that everybody-knows-everybody feel and you never lose your bearings, but at the same time it is large enough that there is a great selection of animals, all of which have enough space.
Animal manager Catherine Epps was my guide for the day, as we did the feeding rounds, meeting all the residents.
First it was the otters. While their neighbours, an inpatient and hungry mob of meerkats, looked on from next door, I set about hiding the various bits of fish, peanuts and sweetcorn around their home.
"The harder it is for them to find the better," explained Catherine, who has worked at the zoo for almost five years. "Hide them in all the nooks and crannies."
This was a technique I would get used to throughout the day. The idea behind it being the animals still have to search for their food, as they would do in the wild.
| "It manages to be small enough to keep that everybody-knows-everybody feel and you never lose your bearings, but at the same time it is large enough that there is a great selection of animals, all of which have enough space." | |
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With the otters fed, the next stop was the ring-tailed coatis' enclosure, where Mr C and Junior were eagerly awaiting us.
This was my first chance to really meet some of the animals face-to-face.
After hiding some rabbit legs and duck eggs, I grabbed a handful of meal worms and went to introduce myself.
Understandably a little wary at first, four-year-old Mr C was soon inseparable from me. Well, at least from the worms overflowing from my hand.
However, we soon had to move on as we had a celebrity to feed and we did not want to keep him waiting.
It's often said you should never meet your heroes as they will only disappoint, but in the case of SpongeBob that could not have been further from the truth.
Having written many stories about the troubled Bolivian squirrel monkey, who was kidnapped from Chessington Zoo before being recovered, and then forced to move to Battersea when his original troupe rejected him, I was very keen to meet him.
Still not confident enough to be put in with females, SpongeBob shares his home with fellow batchelor Quincey.
Stepping into his cage, meal worms again at the ready, the welcome we got was incredible.
Immediately he was everywhere, climbing over us, doing cartwheels and playing with the cameras - he was a born performer.
"The squirrel monkeys are definitely my favourites," said Catherine, and I could see why.
To see more pictures from the day click here. Or for more information on the zoo click here.
8:03pm Tuesday 31st July 2007
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