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12 economist suntribune saturday march n 2000 c living guess whats to dinner life can be wild when mom and dad are zookeepers by steve somerville staff writer while most parents try not to bring their work home with them the same cant be said for the claffey household in markham in fact mom and dad are encouraged to bring their work home imagine mom strolling in the front door accompanied by a 15metre high giraffe or dad tugging on a pullline trying to convince a stubborn camel to sit down for dinner whiles giraffe and a camel as house guests might be a stretch the claffey parents do bring astrong love of wildlife and nature with them daughter keelin 7 and son declan 5 love animals as much as their parents at last count family pets included a large blackandwhite cat named max two guinea pigs named sheep and sassy a cockatiel named cookie an aquarium full of fish and two tree frogs about a yearandahalf ago both parents gave keelins kindergarten class at st monica catholic elementary school in buttonville a fun presentation on insects bringing with them a variety of beetles cockroaches and spiders the kids just loved it heidi said the bugs were a big hit they took some bugs out and showed them to my class keelin said the boys thought they were neat they didnt want to touch the spiders though dad pulled out a rhino beetle a large bug with a rhinotype horn on its head its gross ugly keelin said i like the real rhinos at the zoo heidi works closely with the gorillas and other creatures in the african rainforest exhibit at the zoo oliver is supervisor of the australasian exhibit and oversaw the giant panda koala bear and komodo dragon exhibits that made headlines this decade the couple has been together for 10 years having met at thezoo oliver came to canada as a young man from manchester england in 1969 and retains a noticeable central england accent an avid animal lover throughout his life his family operated a hobby farm when he was a boy he was hired as one of 20 zookeepers at the newly built toronto zoo in january 1974 opening ceremonies were in august that year theres a lot of interaction with the animals they get to know your voice and which songs you are singing when youre working they all have their own personalities there was a lot of work involved in getting the zoo ready for its opening including work ing on animal enclosures and bringing in the animals and acclimatizing them to their new surroundings top zookeepers and animal care specialists around the world came to toronto to train and work with the newly hired crew the keepers also trained exten sively at the san diego zoo recognized as one of the worlds best and renown for its research many of the original metro zoo animals came from the old riverdale zoo built in 1887 located in torontos east end on the don river riverdale became antiquated and somewhat run down in the 1960s and 1970s which prompted toronto to build a newer bigger worldclass zoo we moved animals by van up the dvp from the riverdale zoo claffey said we even brought an anesthetized polar bear you can imagine if he woke up on us on the highway we also brought orangutans and alligators claffey worked his way up through the heidi and oliver claffey above care for casey and kabul two of the metro toronto zoos camels at right the zookeepers relax in their markham home with daughter keelin 7 son declan 5 and a couple of pets of the not- quitesoexotic variety ranks to his current position and surprises himself when he realizes hes been at the zoo for 25 years ive put almost half my life into this place it feels like home its a part of me its a beau tiful place to work he said every day trees and wild animals were outside in fresh air inside its the tropics referring to the indoor exhibits its like being part of nature in 1995 he led a team responsible for the black ferret breeding and release program at the zoo one of his proudest moments was witnessing the ferrets release into the wild- lands of south dakota ferrets are one of the most endangered animals in north america he points out i saw our torontobred animals out there in the plains it was a fantastic feeling heidi from mississauga has been at the zoo for 14 years she won an internship place ment through her animal care studies at sheridan college after her graduation she was hired at the zoo one of her most exciting moments she hopes doesnt happen again took place about five years ago a baby reindeer walking alongside its mother in a harness being led in training was spotted by an aggressive dog on a nearby movie set which ran toward the deer panicked the newborn ran off down into the depths of the rouge valley heidi seven months pregnant with declan at the time chased after the young reindeer down a steep hill and around the heavily wooded area eventually with some backup she retrieved the runaway nestled inconspicu ously in a landfill and brought it back to the safety of its mother a typical work day for the zookeepers starts out with a brief meeting to go over the days agenda and discuss the status of ani mals those requiring special attention among other issues and topics the keepers go to their respective areas to care for the animals feeding them clean- see tauk page 13 choose the right sunglasses less than two weeks to spring and we are all anxious to see more sun here are some timely tips on choosing your sunglasses you already know that lenses which provide 100 tjv protection are an absolute must glass lenses gjvccrisper vision polycarbonate lenses may be ideal for summer and winter sports because of their safety feature plastic lenses may be lighter in weight but they arc prone to scratching photosensitive lenses need about a minute to change from light to dark not good while driving since they donot work well behind the cars windshield practical for outdoor summer days with alternating sunshine and cloudy days polarized lenses are great for eliminating glare and are best for water sports and also for glare while driving very good for eliminating glare from winter snow too clipon frames can be custom made to fit any frame they are an excellent option for people who already wear prescription glasses they clip onto your existing frames by small magnets or special handles and arc an inexpensive way to have a second pair of prescription sunglasses plastic frames will be very stylish this summer an and curved shapes titanium and aluminum materials sportier and wraparounrl models and rubber temple tips arc in this year dr hh walji houbscmscodhos optometrist 471 eyes 3937 6633 highway 7 markham v website wwwdrwaljicom email drwaljidrwaljicom