Administration and Retail Manager
Shepreth Wildlife Park

Hayley K

00:00:02 I’m Hayley K. My job is Admin Manager and also I stand in as Shop Manager as well. What I enjoy most about my job is that it’s so diverse, it’s different every day although I’m office based, really, I do get out to see the animals on a daily basis. I deal with all the adoption cards and things so I have to go around the enclosures. So I do get to go out and spend some time on the wildlife park with the animals as well.

00:00:30 So, it’s absolutely great and the rewards are fantastic, especially when you’ve had a sick animal or, you know, an animal that’s been in pregnancy and you see the end results where the animal has recovered very well or they’ve given birth and you have the little nippers running around the park. It’s great. I was pretty lousy at school to be honest. I wasn’t very good at all. I don’t think I was very pushed at, you know, at home, you know, to do my homework. You know, my parents didn’t really take much notice whether I did it or didn’t and I do regret it because I wish I’d done much better.

00:01:05 But yes, it was always a case of if you could get out of a lesson or what excuse could you make to get out. So, I wasn’t a brilliant student, I’m afraid. I left home when I was 16 and took up a job at Tesco’s and worked there for four years because I had to pay my lodgings but then I did go to night school and then started work at a travel agents and had a fantastic time. Worked for some really nice people.

00:01:30 Got to travel quite a lot, you know, we had the opportunities to build up some good friendships in it, as well. Meeting Alex and Jake was a great opportunity in my life. By meeting them I came to work here and I haven’t looked back. I’ve loved every day that I’ve worked here. I mean, when I first came it was more like a little farm yard park although they did have a few exotic animals, it was nowhere the extent that we do have now.

00:01:56 So, over the last 10-15 years it’s grown to unrecognisable to what it was before. It’s a much more, more based on the educational side and the conservation as well as the wilder animal rather than on the native species. I have always had a passion for animals, you know, we’ve always had animals at home but it was probably, you know, when I first met Alex and Jake and they brought me over here and I started to interact more intimately with the animals.

00:02:31 You know, being able to go into their enclosures and touch things like they had a Kinkajou monkey…a Kinkajou bear, sorry, that used to be brought up in the house and she was lovely. She was an absolutely beautiful animal and you’d just think, you know, this is so amazing to be able to touch these animals and, you know, look after them and care for them. Inspirational people. Probably Jake, actually. Jake who used to run the park.

00:02:57 He just has opened up so many doors for himself and he is just an amazing person how he has gone out and grabbed every opportunity and made such a big success of it. I think we’ve all made mistakes in our lives. I think we all have made mistakes but I wouldn’t say I’ve ever made any mistakes that have been detrimental to, you know, my moving on or anything. No, no, and I don’t really have any regrets. In the next five years where do I see myself? Probably still here, actually. Still doing the same things. If it’s not broken, why fix it?

00:03:32 You know, I love it here, it’s nice that, you know, you get involved in everything. You know, they involve me in, you know, all the decision making, you know, they do ask my opinion on things and so I love being here.

ENDS