The Youngest Lion Keeper in Britain Is a Girl

It's feeding time at Folly Farm, a zoo in the seaside county of Pembrokeshire, Wales. A growing crowd watches on as six African lions jump on their hind legs, pawing at the fence of their enclosure with their jaws wide open, anticipating fresh meat. Separated from one of nature's great predators by just a few inches and some metal bars, most people would balk at the prospect of serving these lions lunch for fear of becoming the main course. But for 22-year-old Rosie Badger, this isn't a terrifying scenario—it's a daily occurrence. While many people her age who are in work consider themselves lucky to be responsible for the company Twitter account, Badger has been in charge of this pride since they arrived at the zoo in July 2014.

Broadly chatted to Badger, who is one of the youngest lion keepers in the UK, about what makes women perfect for the job, and why lions are just like giant house cats.

Broadly: Did you always want to be a lion keeper?
Rosie Badger: I've always loved animals, and from a very young age I knew I wanted to work with them in some capacity. After leaving school at 18, I studied a three-year foundation degree in Animal Science at Pembrokeshire College. That's when I started working at Folly Farm, doing 600 hours of work experience as part of my course, mainly working with the giraffes. Then I was hired in 2012 as a general zookeeper. I have always loved lions; they're definitely my favorite animal as they are so majestic and proud looking. They're just like house cats really—they have similar playful qualities, albeit the fact they're a lot more massive! When I found out Folly Farm was getting a pride of lions, and I was asked if I wanted the job, I completely jumped at the chance. Being able to work with them full-time really is a dream come true.

How did you prepare for your current role?
Work began on their enclosure around seven months before they arrived. My new colleague Shelly Hailston and I had months of learning all about lions—their behaviour patterns, what food they ate, as well as all the safety procedures. During this time I was also sent to Blackpool Zoo to spend three days doing work experience with the lion and tiger keepers there, which was amazing and confirmed for me that I'd made the right decision. I went to Longleat Safari Park for the day to learn more too, as that was where our lions were going to come from. When the pride finally arrived it was such an emotional day, everybody at the zoo was crying tears of joy. Shelly and I also had a handover from two of the team at Longleat, who stayed with us for a few days to help with the transition period. At first, the lions were shy as they hadn't left their scent about, but once they began exploring their new home and marked their territory they settled in quickly.

Can you tell us about the lions at Folly Farm?
Our pride consists of an adult male, Hugo, seven; an adult female, Luna, six; and their four daughters; Alika, Ebele, Sola, and Zahra, who are almost two years old. When they first arrived they were cubs and they were so adorable—and they've really grown into absolutely beautiful animals.

What is a typical working day like?
I start early, around 8 AM. It's a very physical job, but lions are surprisingly easy to look after, in terms of feeding, organizing the meat rotations in the fridges, and cleaning out their bedding and enclosure. A massive part of the job is checking—making sure there are six lions in the enclosure and none of them have got out, and ensuring doors are locked behind us. Having Shelly there as another pair of eyes is incredibly important, as it means there's less chance of one of us making a mistake. In this line of work, you really need common sense and good spatial awareness too.

How do you keep the lions entertained?
They have a lot of things to play with. They especially love to knock footballs around and mess around with cardboard boxes. We have a special type of perfume scent for them, which they all love to roll around in. Lions do also sleep a lot naturally, but visitors to the zoo compliment us about the fact they get to see them up close and they look entertained. We also hide their food in their toys sometimes and leave scent trails around for them. This really enriches their lives, as they're encouraged to prowl around their enclosure and hunt for food, which they love doing.

Do you ever get frightened?
I'd be lying if I said I didn't, although it's become easier over time. Hugo weighs 230 kilos, Luna is 160 kilos and their daughters weigh between 120–116 kilos. They're really tall too, around 6 and a half feet. To put that into context, I'm around 5"4', so they really tower over me! When I feed them their meat—mainly beef, chicken and rabbit—through their cage they can get quite feisty, especially Luna, who is a protective mother. She bears her teeth and growls a lot. Though they were born in zoos, the six lions weren't hand-reared so they've all retained their wild animal instincts. Shelley and I have built up a rapport with them but we have to remember they are dangerous animals—it's a case of being sensible. In zoos round the world keepers have been killed on the job, but the majority of time it's due to keeper error, which is why both of us check doors and entrances so carefully. We never go into the same areas as the lions at the same time, if we did it's highly likely we'd get eaten.

Do people get surprised when you tell them what you do?
My friends are always interested in what I do, and whenever I meet a new person my mates are like, "Guess what Rosie does?" The reactions are interesting—most people really don't believe me. The majority of other zookeepers I've met, including ones who focus on looking after big cats, are female though.

Why do you think that is?
I'm not 100 percent sure. Women have a nurturing side, which is an important characteristic for a zookeeper to have, and we can be really practical too. Also interestingly, some big cats, especially lions, don't really like tall men and can get a bit stressed by them. Plus there's a bit of a power and ego thing with some men—if they're intimidated by animals like lions, they can try and stand up to them and control them as they don't like to admit it when they lose that control. And you can't control wild animals.

Zoos get a lot of criticism from people who say they are cruel. How would you respond to that?
I know working as a zookeeper can be controversial, but the animals at Folly Farm are happy and content. In fact, the thing I like most about my job is the fact that I get to keep the lions fulfilled by giving them a lot of things to do, like the hunting and scents I mentioned earlier. They also have an amazing, state-of-the-art two-acre enclosure to live in, with four separate dens as well as an outside area. Without zoos, lions could become extinct. In Africa their natural habitats are slowly disappearing— there's around 35,000 African lions left in the wild, a decline of 30 percent in the past 20 years, which is huge. A lot of this is due to the conflict between humans and lions±their habitats are cleared to make way for agriculture, reducing a lot of their food sources. Trophy hunting, like what happened to Cecil, is another major problem contributing to the decline of lions. It's heartbreaking—tourists will go to some places in South Africa and have the chance to play with and cuddle lion cubs, but they don't realize a lot of them have been taken away from their mothers and are essentially being bred for hunting.

Do you think having the chance to see lions in zoos might make people more compassionate to their plight?
Definitely. A lot of people will never get the chance to see lions in the wild—I've never seen this myself, though of course I really would love to. By going to a zoo, many people are able to see them up close and gain personal experience of being near them. What zookeepers can do is educate the public. At Folly Farm we have an education centre where we provide our visitors with information about conservation, such as the work rangers do in the wild to protect lions. If children learn this from a young age—and we get a lot of young guests—they will grow up with the knowledge that it's important to care for animals.