What makes Tim Faulkner’s job interesting?

Tim Faulkner is a wildlife expert who has to milk venomous snakes, wrestle crocodiles and climb trees as a part of a regular day’s work

For Tim Faulkner, milking venomous snakes to make anti- venom, wrestling saltwater crocodiles and climbing trees to bring down a koala, are all in a regular day’s work. A reptile park general manager and a wildlife expert, Tim tells DC that his associations with animals began just after school when he opted for a job at the zoo rather than the conventional ones that his peers opted for. “While I took care of animals at the zoo for so long, I also took over the role of a television show presenter a few years back. But that hasn’t changed my work as even though my presentation goes hand- in- hand with dangerous work, it only feels like I’m interacting with a person in my own team,” he explains, stating how he doesn’t take a chance when it comes to safety. Describing the risky nature of his job, he says, “During summers, an alligator’s eggs need to be moved away from them as it is too hot for the eggs to survive. Being the dedicated mothers that talligators are, this becomes a very risky task. Even handling deadly taipans and web spiders are risky; so we need to take extra care.” Tim says he is looking forward to visiting India and to see a gharial and also see a mongoose wrestling a king cobra, if he gets lucky. His show The Wildlife of Tim Faulkner will air every night at 9 pm on Animal Planet all through June.