End of an Era for Orana’s Big Cat Keeper

Orana Wildlife Park MEDIA RELEASE

End of an Era for Orana’s Big Cat Keeper

From hand-raising day old Cheetah cubs to travelling across the Nullarbor desert with two White Rhinos bound for Christchurch, Graeme Petrie has a job that many people would dearly love. But Friday is the end of an era as Graeme leaves his position of Head Keeper of Exotic Mammals at Christchurch’s Orana Wildlife Park to seek new adventures overseas.

Graeme has spent 20 years working in the captive industry, initially joining a wildlife centre in North Queensland where he worked with Koalas. In 1995, he moved home to Christchurch and the following year took a position working with Lions, Tigers, Cheetah and other carnivores at Orana Wildlife Park. Over the past decade he has held his current position as head of the exotic mammal section, meaning he oversees animal keepers and works with over 20 animal species.

Reflecting on his fifteen years at the Park, Graeme says he has numerous career highlights and some great work stories. “I have many fond memories of my time at Orana. This role has been a life changing experience and it has been an absolute privilege to have worked with some of these very rare exotic animals in my home town. I have lived on-site for fourteen years so it will be strange when that ends.”

“When I started, the Park was in a difficult financial situation so it has been great to watch it grow from strength to strength over the years.”

Graeme says one of his most memorable experiences was the birth of three Cheetah cubs in 1997: “These were the first cubs born during my time at the Park. It was a great achievement for the Park considering Cheetah are so difficult to breed in captivity. From that litter, it has been great to see many more Cheetah cubs born at Orana over the years.”

Animal transfers are a regular occurrence for Orana as the Park fulfils an important role in international zoo-based breeding programmes. “I have been fortunate to have been involved in numerous transfers over the years. Some of the most memorable include: moving two Rhino from Perth to Christchurch in five days, sailing across the Tasman taking a Giraffe to Melbourne, moving a Rhino calf born at Orana to South Australia, going to Dubbo (near Sydney) to bring two Tigers to their new home at Orana, moving two male Lions from Wellington, shifting Wild Dogs to Hamilton and transferring Cheetah from the North Island to Christchurch.”

“I have also enjoyed talking to interested members of the public and helping to spread the word about our conservation work and what visitors can do to help.”

“Living on-site has given me many other opportunities. I have been lucky to be able to spend a great deal of time with the animals after hours. I would often visit my Giraffe mates, see the Rhinos and hang out with the Lions, Tigers and Cheetah. This helped build strong bonds with many of the animals; the animals become your friends over time. It has been amazing to see an animal born here mature and eventually have kids of their own.”

Four animals with which Graeme has developed a particularly strong bond with are Shomari, Cango, Kunjuka and Mazza - the Cheetah that he helped to hand-raise two years ago. “The cubs’ mother was an inexperienced first time mum and left her youngsters. Had we not intervened and hand-raised them, they would have died. During the cubs’ first six weeks of life myself and another keeper worked a 12 hour day, 7 days a week, tending to the needs of the cubs. Our roles included feeding, cleaning and toileting the animals as well as carefully monitoring their growth rates. Effectively I was their ‘dad’ for two years so I will be sad to move away from them. However it has been a pleasure to see them grow up and hopefully in time they will make a contribution to the preservation of their species.”

Graeme admits that not all aspects of the job have been easy. “I guess the down side of the role is that you lose some of your animal friends. To a degree you become hardened to animals passing, as it is the nature of our industry, but it is sad when they die.”

Orana Wildlife Trust Chief Executive, Lynn Anderson, says “Graeme has made a valuable contribution to the development of the Park. We will miss him sincerely. He has been a key member of our team and an influential decision maker. In particular he will be remembered as ‘Mr Cheetah’ having had such an association with the species during his time at Orana. We wish him all the best for his travels.”

Looking to the future, Graeme is excited by the prospects of travelling overseas. “Outside of work my passion is my camera and large birds of prey, so I will first be heading to the UK and see how things go from there.”

“I have been very fortunate to have had such a fantastic job for so many years and would like to thank the Trust for the opportunities that I have had. I wish them all the best for the future” concludes Graeme.

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