Rhod Gilbert Becomes a Zoo Keeper at the Welsh Mountain Zoo |

Rhod Gilbert Becomes a Zoo Keeper at the Welsh Mountain Zoo

Comedian and television star – Rhod Gilbert swapped the bright lights of the screen and stage to become a Zoo Keeper at the Welsh Mountain Zoo – National Zoo of Wales. For three days, from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th January, Rhod took up the challenge of getting up close and personal with some of [...]

Posted in: Features, News
Posted on 20th Jan 2012

Comedian and television star – Rhod Gilbert swapped the bright lights of the screen and stage to become a Zoo Keeper at the Welsh Mountain Zoo – National Zoo of Wales.

For three days, from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th January, Rhod took up the challenge of getting up close and personal with some of the Zoo’s rare and endangered species including Snow Leopards, European Brown Bears, Californian Sea Lions and Bactrian Camels.

Along with turning his hand to presenting a Sea Lion and a Chimpanzee show, Rhod spent a morning assisting the Zoo vet with cleaning and trimming the hooves of two Przewalski’s Wild Horses.

He didn’t shy away from the more demanding jobs and also got to grips with mucking out the paddocks, cleaning the Chimpanzee dens and preparing 7 kilos of fish for a Penguin feed.

Rhod spent his last day putting in to practice what he had learned during his stay and concluded with the rewarding task of releasing a rescued Seal back into the wild after a short stay at the Zoo for care and rehabilitation.

Rhod’s role change was captured on film for the latest series of his BBC television programme, “Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience” – which is due to air later in the year.

Collection Manager Peter Litherland said,

“It was great to have the opportunity to show Rhod exactly what our role entails. He took everything in his stride and wasn’t fazed by the challenges we threw at him. We were really impressed with his efforts to present not only a Sea Lion show but also a Chimpanzee show – it takes months to tell each Chimpanzee apart but he picked up on their names and characteristics really quickly. We really enjoyed Rhod’s time at the Zoo and can’t wait to see the show later in the year!”