"Every day is different  There is never a dull moment!"

This is how Peter Smits describes his job here at Hamilton Zoo.  Peter is our Team Leader of Birds and Reptiles, and it is a role that he truly loves.

Peter began his career at Hamilton Zoo in October of 1983.  He was offered the position of Assistant Bird Keeper, on the proviso that it would most likely be a temporary role.  At the time the Zoo was financially ailing and it was likely to be shut down unless the Hamilton City Council took over it's running.

After a life time fascination with birds, Peter leapt at the chance to work at the Zoo.  He had spent his childhood tramping in bush and fields, and would breed and hand rear birds in aviaries that he built from old car crates.

When Peter first began work at the Zoo it was 35 acres in size and had very limited staff.  He temporarilly lived in a caravan int he carpark, until the Zoo's future became more stable, "The Zoo was the Hilldale Game Farm originally, so we had anything that was classified as game.  There were aviaries all over the place.  They were mainly breeding aviaries, not display aviaries like today."

As well as birds, the Zoo housed some rare animals, including jaguars, pumas, rhesus monkeys and ex-circus lions, "When the Council took over the Zoo in 1984, they decided that the big cats were too expensive to keep and wanted to get rid of them.  The Friends of Hilldale Zoo was formed, and a petition was made to keep the cats alive.  It was good, as not only did it save the cats lives, but it made people aware of the Zoo."

With the Zoo struggling financially in the early days of his career, everything was run on a shoestring budget, "We would go to the vegetable market on Kahikatea Drive twice a week and dig through a couple of 40gallon drums to find food that they couldn't sell to the public.  You'd be heads down sorting through these huge bins - it was free though!  We also had to slaughter farm animals for the Zoo meat supply at the time."

Over the years Peter has had the opportunity to bond with many animals, including hand raising Kokako for the Department of Conservation,  "We played the Pukete birdsong as we raised them, so they would learn their Pukete dialect.  We also fed them through one-sided glass with hand puppets that looked like their parents, so we keepers wouldn't be imprinted on their minds."

As a keen conservationist, raising birds in captivity for release into the wild is one of Peter's favourite parts of his job.  He also enjoys training others and passing on his extensive knowledge in this field.

Hamilton Zoo is very lucky to have animal keepers like Peter Smits.  He is a person who has spent decades providing quality care to animals.  Thanks, Peter, for all the hard work you put in each day and the dedication that you show our animals.