Photography: Carmen Bird
When vet nurse Celine Campana was on her OE, she was delighted to land her dream gig at a top zoo in the UK.
Celine, 46, tells, “On my very first day working by myself, a keeper banged on my door, yelling that Marlene had collapsed. ‘Who is Marlene?’ I asked and the keeper replied, ‘She’s a red-capped mangabey!’ I was like, ‘Is that a monkey?!’”
Marlene was indeed a monkey, who was giving birth.
“I was four days into being a nurse at this zoo. Before that, I’d spent 10 years mainly working with cats and dogs, as well as volunteering for a sea turtle conservation group. But as a zoo nurse, you can be required to deal with anything!”
So whenever anyone asks Celine what skills a person needs at a zoo, she tells them a cool head is vital.
“Vet nurses need to be unflappable and be able to think outside the box.”
Celine’s lifelong passion
Celine’s love for animals was evident from the get-go.
“My family has farming roots round Te Awamutu and my grandmother’s family had horses. My nana not only taught me how to ride, but she also instilled in me an awareness that animals deserve care. So if you’ve been for a ride, when you get back hot and thirsty, you untack the pony first to give them a drink and something to eat, partly to say thank you.”
After finishing high school in Tauranga, Celine wanted to work with animals, so she headed to Auckland to study veterinary nursing at Unitec.
“But being a vet nurse at a zoo seemed like an unattainable dream, so after qualifying in 1999, I worked for a few years as a vet nurse in Auckland before heading off on my OE.”
A life-changing encounter
On her way to England, Celine stopped to volunteer at Archelon, the Sea Turtle Protection Society in Greece.
“I distinctly remember the first time I saw a sea turtle. I’d just arrived at their rescue centre in Athens. It was winter and raining, and there’d been a bit of miscommunication, so no one came to pick me up.
“Then I found the place and walked in the gate to find a boardwalk with all these tanks and pools. A turtle surfaced and took a breath right next to me.
“It was like seeing a dinosaur. They have such a deliberate, graceful movement and I knew I was in the presence of a truly ancient soul.”
During her time overseas, Celine accumulated a broad range of experiences across all species, meaning that after she came home to New Zealand, she was able to jump on a vacancy at Auckland Zoo. Ever since, it’s been a match made in heaven.
“Although Obie, my 40kg rescue dog, can be a bit neurotic,” she laughs. “He makes his feelings known when I come home smelling of lion!”
Inspiring the next generation of Kaitiaki
Such taxing work means it can make it hard to switch off.
“But that’s the nature of caring professions,” Celine says. “For many of the creatures, we can be around when they’re born, right through to the end of life or when they leave our care.”
As for her return to Aotearoa, Celine thought it would spell the end of her interactions with sea turtles. But Auckland Zoo is seeing more of them, partly due to our changing climate.
“We did an amazing release last year,” Celine recalls. “It was up in Northland, and the turtles were fitted with satellite transmitters and returned to the wild. Even though I’d done plenty of releases in Greece and Costa Rica, this one was so amazing. My zoo colleagues, Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s, DOC, local iwi and hapu¯, and local schools were all there, and those children knew they would be kaitiaki [guardians] of those turtles. That was one of the most meaningful events I’ve ever been part of.”
There are countless things Celine loves about her job and another is the hope it gives her.
“Climate anxiety is real and that can lead to apathy,” Celine explains. “Some people think it doesn’t matter what they do because climate change is so overwhelming, so I say, ‘Seek out the people doing good.’
“Whether you join a local river care group or attend a planting day, that sort of work will uplift you, which is what I love about working at Auckland Zoo. So much of what we do gives people hope.”
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