(In awe and wonder at) All Creatures Great and Small

Abstract

My job as an industrial hygienist and occupational physician takes me to some very interesting workplaces. I remain in thrall and awe of hazards both great and small and the challenges for containment and control. In January 2016, I had the opportunity to literally, take a walk on the wild side. Until then, little did I know that designated zoo staff were required to hold firearm licenses to enforce public safety if a ‘dangerous animal’ escaped. My contract was to do their firearm medicals. Of course, I was not going to be charged any entry fee! And no, I was not forbidden to meet & greet the other animals. The visitors on site were in fun day mode, clustered into groups and families, doing the rounds of the animal enclosures. My singleton self, shod in Wellingtons, wearing a visitor badge, taking notes on a piece of paper, wielding a smartphone and afflicted with a serious case of the shutterbug, did arouse some strange looks (strange beings, these bipeds). I was pinching myself to be doing a workplace walkthrough (the inhabitants of the wallaby enclosure would probably prefer ‘workplace walkabout’) in what was for other people, a fun zone. Only while interviewing the staff did it sink in that I had the privilege of being the first occupational physician of the oldest zoo in the world. It turned out that in its nearly 200-year history, staff of ZSL London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo had never before spotted a specimen of the rare subspecies of doctors who call themselves occupational physicians. Need I add that I was impressed with the role of the zoos in conservation work and the hard work and dedication of the staff?