Rosie spends day as zookeeper for CBBC

ANIMAL lover Rosie Broom was given hands-on experience when she spent the day as a zookeeper, courtesy of CBBC.
Feeding the lemursFeeding the lemurs
Feeding the lemurs

The Shoreham College pupil was able to feed the animals at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent and help with their care.

Rosie, who is an RSPB member and has adopted three leopards with the WWF, was selected after applying to the television show Wild.

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“I had a brilliant day,” she said. “I love animals and it was really interesting to be behind the scenes of the zoo. The zookeepers know their animals really well and had lots of funny stories to tell.

Shoreham College pupil Rosie Broom goes WildShoreham College pupil Rosie Broom goes Wild
Shoreham College pupil Rosie Broom goes Wild

“The most exciting thing was feeding Tugs the Siberian tiger. It was quite scary because he was so big but he was really gentle.”

As the zoo is 600 acres, Rosie was taken around in a safari-style truck and was able to look after various animals, including giraffes, monkeys, lemus and a rhino.

“I didn’t know rhinos liked bananas and carrots, or that monkeys liked dog biscuits,” she said.

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“I found out that giraffe’s tongues are 45cm long and that capuchin monkeys are the cleverest primates and are very easy to train. They can hold things with their tails.”

As well as learning about the animals and feeding them, Rosie helped to make a ladder for the monkeys to play on, all while being filmed.

Mum Jo Broom said: “She is a great animal lover and one day would like to be a zoologist.

“The CBBC Wild show was looking for children who are passionate about animals in order to make a series of programmes about them.

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“We had spent many holidays on the Isle of Islay, where Rosie had been on guided walks to see eagles, otters and seals, bats, etc. She has been swimming with dolphins in Florida and kayaking with manatees.”

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