Touring

One of the most popular experiences offered by WHF is the "Big Cat Experience," a two hour personal tour of the site followed by the chance to hand feed one of the cats. It is park policy for volunteers to shadow several of these tours with a keeper prior to let loose on the general public ourselves. These were hugely enjoyable to follow and going around with lots of different people gives a huge variety of information and styles that I found largely interesting and educational.

Now two months into my internship at WHF I officially completed my first solo tour last week, and have now been doing them regularly throughout the week. The enthusiasm of the visitors makes the tours a pretty relaxed affair, and the cats usually behave themselves and come to see me/them. I'm not so keen on the obligatory "tour guide photo" that a lot of people seem to want but I guess that's all part of the experience!

I love being able to have the chance to tell people all about the cats at WHF and I feel I know enough about them now to give an entertaining and information tour. It's always nice to spend a few hours just watching the cats and seeing the delight on people's faces as we do so, especially when it's one of the little known species they've never heard of before.

I'm really looking forward to meeting more people and doing more of these tours, especially if I find the elusive cheetah lover who wants to desperately hand feed Mia or Murphy.

Tamair saying "HI!"