In lockdown with sea lions
THIS year the world turned upside down but the animals at London Zoo and its sister, Whipsnade, still needed to be fed – and safely.
Whi le ever ything stopped in lockdown, cameras captured how keepers cared for more than 500 species, from giraffes and tigers, to monkeys and meerkats.
So here it’s business as ‘not quite’ normal as the skeleton staff feed 20,000 hungry mouths and try to keep themselves and the animals protected.
Alex, who takes care of the sea lions, says: “Everyone is worried about coronavirus and I’m worrying about getting to work and feeding the animals.
“They are my family.”
Alex is struggling to come to terms with the fact the sea lion family, headed up by Dominic, is due to move to another zoo – but she has to prepare them.
Elsewhere, giraffes Molly and Maggie are highly suspicious of the cameras and also of the builders who are looking after the new NHS-tribute refurb on their giraffe house.
There are amusing scenes as keepers create a ginormous ice lolly for the elephants, which the youngest of the family seems to think is a football.
And keepers Gemma and Meg are beside themselves over the imminent arrival of a baby okapi – a forest giraffe – which is an endangered species.
Meanwhile, keeper Jamie is having a slightly stressful time with the zoo’s arachnid breeding programme as he introduces a couple of venomous huntsman spiders to each other.
It could end up with lovemaking or cannibalism and there’s no way to know.
The tension is palpable…