Six Flags Wild Safari veterinarian has 'best job in the world'

[29yrswithaGApass]

What a nice article!

 

Six Flags Wild Safari veterinarian has 'best job in the world'

Written by Dr. William Rives May. 17, 2012 Asbury Park Press

 

Taking a break from looking after lions and caring for kangaroos, Dr. William Rives, 47, shared some of his first-hand experiences working for 28 years within Six Flags Wild Safari. Rives had humble beginnings as a gatekeeper in the 350-acre drive-through animal reserve, spending some of his early years mucking elephant dung and wrangling goats. Today, he cares for the safari’s 1,200 animals.

 

Rives: As a kid, I grew up watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom every Sunday night at 7 p.m. I could not get enough of the different types of animals featured and wanted to be Marlin Perkins working with the lion cubs, giraffe and rhinos.

 

My first real-life experience with exotic animals was going to see Barnum and Bailey’s Circus in Madison Square Garden with my mom and brother. This experience hooked me in and really opened my eyes to how awesome these animals are, especially when you can see first-hand how big an elephant really is.

 

However, it was not until my family drove through Great Adventure’s Wild Safari when it opened in 1974 that my ambition to work with zoological animals was solidified. I could actually be in the “wild kingdom” and it was only 15 miles from my house in Freehold Township. Who knew 19 years later I would end up being the veterinarian at the Six Flags Wild Safari?

 

However, I had to first pay my dues for seven years as a seasonal gatekeeper and warden starting back in 1984. I quickly learned what cleaning “the pits” in the elephant barn entailed and why nobody volunteered for that task.

 

The pits are the elephant barn sewer/septic drains.

 

Male pygmy goats aren’t much more pleasant-smelling either, especially during breeding season. One should never listen to your supervisor when he asks you to “just catch and hold” one of these boys for a while until he gets to your section.

 

There is a speed limit in the park, but on that particular day I think my supervisor drove especially slow … only to have him smile and say, “Oh that was the wrong one … but good catch!”

 

One of my most memorable moments was when the lions were free-roaming, and seeing a lion, Blackie, run toward my gate. I (got) into my gate hut, closed the door quickly and sat on the floor.

 

I could hear Blackie sniffing and walking around the wooden gate hut with plexiglass windows only to read what was inscribed in the bottom of the hut door, “If you are reading this, then you are cat meat!”

 

I thought, this really is a Great Adventure. I clearly understand why all of our predatory animals are separated from our guests and team members today.

 

There are so many things that I love about working at the Wild Safari. Probably the No. 1 element that inspires me to come in to work every day, year after year, is that I never know what awaits me on a daily basis. I learn and see something new every day and nothing is routine. Every day poses a unique opportunity or challenge to make a difference in a guest’s, employee’s or animal’s life.

 

One time during one of our educational programs, a young boy with special needs was able to hold the antlers of an elk. His teacher and his mom were nearly speechless as they had never seen him smile so broadly.

 

I will also never forget the look on the faces of my staff when they were able to hold the first lion cubs born at the park in more than 15 years.

 

Another time, I got called out to see a two-week-old giraffe calf that was recumbent and unresponsive. We worked on this calf around the clock, and by the end of the day we brought the calf back to life. The staff and I had made a difference. What a reward to know that 24 hours out of our lives gave this young animal an opportunity to live a full life of more than 20 years. I would make that trade every time.

 

The work at Six Flags Wild Safari is hard and very physically demanding, but these are the types of moments that put everything in perspective and serve as our reward for caring for this park and its 1,200 residents.

 

It is the best job in the world.