Port Moresby Nature Park sent four animal keepers from their Wildlife team to attend training in Melbourne, Australia.
The four staff members participated in a three-day zoo keeper workshop on The Future of Zoo Animal Welfare, conducted by Zoos Victoria at the Melbourne Zoo.
Port Moresby Nature Park’s life sciences manager, Ishimu Bebe, who also attended the training, said: “As an accredited zoo, Port Moresby Nature Park care about their animals and in ensuring the best possible welfare is given.”
The trip was part of Nature Park’s commitment to continuing to develop and enhance the skills of their staff to adhere to international zoo keeping standards.
The training program was focused on animal welfare, ethics and an overview of zoos as an organisation. The sessions included interaction with other zoo keepers discussing strategies on animal enrichment and animal enclosure designs, and even a walk-through of some of the exhibits to study the behaviour of the animals.
Emma Oliver has been an animal handler at the Port Moresby Nature Park for almost a year. When asked about how the training was beneficial to her work, she replied: “As an animal keeper, it is my duty and responsibility to ensure the welfare of animals under my care are met.
“The training got me to realise that in order for me to better understand the animals I take care of, I would have to learn more about their natural habitat to be able to create an environment that suits them while in captivity.”
Since coming back from the training, many ideas have been shared amongst the members of the Wildlife team and they are looking forward to implementing some of these techniques in the near future.
(From left to right: Port Moresby Nature Park animal keepers Wallace Takendu, Epe Vila and Emma Oliver at Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Australia)