Early mornings watching animals

Did you know more than 5,200 species of animals are classed as an endangered species? The Asian elephant, which is a group of three sub-species of elephants, is one threatened with extinction. Their population stands at less than 33,000 individuals in the wild. You may think this number is not so small, but when you compare it to the human population of 6.6 billion, it's 1/200,000 of the number of people on the planet.

Madelon Willemsen typically starts her day animal-watching; one of the best parts of her day! There are three types of volunteers who aid Willemsen in her work; behavioural, who observe the elephants; animal-watch, who observe the other types of animals; and environmental-enrichment, who make enrichment objects for the animals. Willemsen is responsible for arranging each day's roster for the volunteers in Taronga Zoo to maximise the amount of work done, and this is not an easy task. Her timetable caters to what work needs to be finished, not to a routine, which makes Willemsen's job and working hours flexible.