Dr Gerardo Garcia interview for The Secret Life of the Zoo

20 January 2016

You’re the curator of Lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates. What does that mean?

I have responsibility for the animals that are in the collection at the zoo, everything except the mammals and the birds. So it’s all the reptiles, all the amphibians, all the fish, and any invertebrates, so everything from butterflies to leeches. It’s a very wide range of animals.

 

How many different species are under your care?

That changes on an almost daily basis, but it’s around 300 species.

 

How did you end up working in Chester Zoo?

When I was a little kid, animals have been my passion. My parents had it easy – whenever they had to get me something for my birthday, they could just get me a book about animals. It was always what I wanted. And that’s what my life has been about. I always knew I wanted to work with animals. I studied biology in Spain, and spent three years studying Veterinary Science, and volunteered at the zoo in Barcelona, which gave me hands on experience. Then I worked as a keeper in Barcelona Zoo. I went on to do conservation work in Mallorca, and then went to Jersey Zoo to train more. After that I left Barcelona and went to France. Then I did a PhD in Madagascar, collecting data for two years. Then I got offered a position of curator back in Jersey. So I worked as head of their Reptile and Amphibian division for nine years. Then four years ago I came to Chester, and I’ve been here ever since. It’s been great, we are involved in conservation projects for amphibians and reptiles and fish and invertebrates. I enjoy my work, I have a big and very knowledgeable team. We combine working on new displays and exhibits in the zoo with doing research and conservation work. On Sunday I go to Madagascar to study frogs. So it’s a good balance between elements of display, conservation, research and education.

 

How much of your time is hands on with the animals, and how much is behind a desk?

I’m behind a desk or a table pretty much all day. My life is surrounded by meetings and catch-ups – there’s a lot of reviewing, planning, discussing and analysing, a lot of networking and communication. There’s not as much hands-on time with the animals as I’d like. My position requires a lot of management, planning and discussion. The only exception is when I go out in the field for research – then it’s back to the roots, and I have the opportunity to work with animals, doing captures or trapping or analysing. But day-to-day is much more about desks and tables.

 

What is it about the animal kingdom that fascinates you?

I think I’m an incredibly curious person. My parents tell me I was an incredibly annoyiong kid, because I was always asking questions. So they started buying me encyclopaedias to find out the answers. Why is the sky blue? Why do rainbows happen? Why do the leaves change colour? Why does that animals have six legs? And I just still have that desire to find out stuff. There is a Peter Pan inside me that never grew up. Every single day, doing this job, you find out something new. And you can take that knowledge and use it to help with conservation. That’s what excites me. My job is both conservation work and to open up the curiosity of the visitors to the zoo. It’s a double win – satisfying my curiosity and helping the planet.

 

Do you have a favourite animal?

No! I do have periods where I might have a certain romance with certain animals. It’s always related to what you’re working on. I will have a romance with a frog if we have a particularly challenging issue about it. I can have a romance with an animal for a period because we don’t yet know how to identify the sexes. Stuff like that is so interesting to me. But I would always struggle to say that I had a favourite animal. My PhD was about turtles, so I was really focussed on them for a while, there have been periods where I’ve been really keen on what’s going on about scorpions, and so on. I know there are lots of people who are realy specialised, who are experts on snakes or chimpanzees or gorillas, but I’m not. A lot of curators have tattoos and posters and duvets and pyjamas with the same animal on them. I don’t. I’d need too many pyjamas.

 

What did you make of being filmed for the series?

I didn’t mind it. I like the idea of it promoting curiosity in viewers, and maybe making them smile, or ask questions. To have that opportunity to get into the mind of the viewer is great. If the series plants a seed inside them, that is everything. Sometimes filming can be repetitive, you have to go back and do stuff again sometimes. But mostly it was fun, and it is s important to get people interested in animals and nature. I would do it again anytime.

 

What’s the best thing about your job?

It’s really diverse. There are opportunities to do so many things. And it allows me the chance to go nd work in the field. And I love seeing not only the animals, but the people who love with them. I find field work really recharges my batteries. If you want to see me a happy man, just put me in the bush, working with the animals and the people.

 

Are there any aspects of your job that you don’t like?

Yes. Bureaucracy and hypocrisy. All the political agendas that come with institutions and people working with animals. It’s unacceptable. When we talk about conservation, people should work together as a part of a community, not as an individual. There are too many egos and agendas, and that produces difficulty and prevents us from moving forward and potentially saving a species. I hate it.

 

What ambitions do you have for the future?

Slowly we’re linking more reptiles and amphibians and invertebrates. But we’re missing two big groups that I know are incredibly valuable for the whole understanding of protecting habitats and ecosystems – the mammals and the birds. Hopefully one day I will be able to connect these mammals and birds. I’d like to be able to work with mammals and birds as well. I want to work with all the animals, the whole animal kingdom.

 

The Secret Life of the Zoo is on Channel 4 on Tuesdays at 8pm from 2nd February.