I spent a day caring for rhinos and tigers at a top UK safari park - one thing stunned me

A rhino mud-bath, a tapir tummy rub and hiding a bear's coconuts - all in a day's work as an animal keeper at a top UK safari park. Research claims 40% of UK zoos have recently raised finance fears, while the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) admits that although "zoos are wildly popular" they "face financial challenges".

So I was invited to spend the day helping at popular Knowsley Safari, in Merseyside, to see the level of detail and dedication that keeps a zoo or safari park running 24 hours a day. And I was taken aback by the love and dedication my 'fellow keepers' have towards making sure the animals are treated like stars.

"You can start moving that hay", said senior ungulates (hooved mammals) keeper Louise McKinnon. "The rhinos freshly weed over it last night." Cheers.

The icy rain was driving across the site's 550 acres on Monday morning as I stood in my wellies and green staff fleece facing a mound of worrying brown and moist hay.

The culprits - southern white rhino mother Bayami, aged nine, and her three-month-old daughter, Kamari - were frolicking inside, clearly not fancying the weather at all.

Meaning moonlight in Swahili, Kamari marks an important role in the conservation of this near-threatened species. Every birth is a vital contribution to the global effort to protect these incredible animals.

Hay sorted, it was time to shovel some rhino do-do. And these two rhinos do-do a lot of number twos. "Keep going", chirped giggling Louise at her hapless new intern. "The more you shovel the less I have to!"

Some office workers complain that their mundane jobs feel like they are just shovelling manure but it certainly doesn't feel like that here … even though sometimes you are.

Louise has a crash of 10 southern white rhino to care for - the global population is around 17,000 - and visitors on Knowsley's Safari Drive could see them march right up to their cars.

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By now it was mud bath time, as Bayami and Kamari were eager for some spa treatment. Rhinos love having keepers rub it into their sides as it regulates temperature and is a natural sun screen and moisturiser. 

Little Kamari is only the size of a large pooch so was very wary but eventually Bayami agreed to wander over and let me slat on some cool mud on her sides. 

Louise, 31, showed me how remarkably despite their formidable 'thick skin' reputation, rhinos have areas around their joints where the skin is silky soft and toasty warm. 

I left Bayami to enjoy her mud elixir and teamed up with keeper Ben Cartwright, overseeing the lowland tapir. 

As I helped Ben, 32, chop up the tapirs' lunch of sweet potatoes, greens and beetroot, he explained how the giant pig-like tapirs have lived on Earth for millions of years and their Brazilian breed weigh 200 kilos and are brilliant swimmers. 

But aside from avoiding standing behind one - they projectile their wee like a water cannon - Ben warned me to avoid their heads. He explained: "They have very, very sharp teeth. So you never want to be bit by a tapir! 

"In the wild jungle, things like jaguars or panthers would be their predators. So they've got to have some way to fight back."

Feeding Jerry raw beetroot I started a tummy rub. Ten minutes later I was still massaging away. Ben quipped: "He is loving that, you could be there for hours!"

But it was time to see Paddington. 

In Michael Bond's 1958 children's story Paddington Bear - an Andean or spectacled bear - arrives in London from "darkest Peru". Knowsley Safari have two Andean bears, a female called Bahia and a much larger male called Chui.

Senior carnivore keeper Andy Lewis and colleagues Becky Hall and Ryan Owen show me - with the two bears safely indoors - how they like to hide the bears' food of fruit, coconuts and worms around their habitat to make them work for their supper.

I made sure Chui had some climbing to do if he wanted his favourite snack for lunch - coconuts.

Andy, 33, said: "We never just offer it on a platter. Anything we can think of, we will do to make those bears work, to use their intelligence."

Explaining their incredible sense of smell he went on: "It's about seven times stronger than a bloodhound, which is about 14 or something times stronger than us."

Andy added: "Can you see the 'spectacled' markings? Every Andean bear marking is completely different. Some literally have full circles around their eyes.

"Most people would call them Andean bears but they're Paddington. It's the only South American bear."

As I fed Chui some sweet potato, I naturally/stupidly ask if they like marmalade sandwiches. Andy groans. He's heard it a thousand times.

"We can try them with marmalade. We do give them honey from time to time as a treat. They'll eat pretty much anything you give them like fish too, so they are true omnivores.

Lastly I joined Andy, Becky and Ryan over at one of the big cat enclosures to feed raw beef to their four Amur tigers, a species on the endangered list. 

Last summer their six-year-old female Yuki, gave birth to two cubs Akira and Ozo - the first Amur tigers to be born at Knowsley in 30 years, thanks to a global breeding programme to boost numbers. 

But while Yuki, Akira and Ozo are purr-fect pals, the cubs' seven-year-old dad Makari prefers the solitary life in his own paddock. 

Makari was snoring in his paddock when we arrived but the ravenous cubs and Yuki were straight over sniffing the pots of raw beef I was holding. 

Using giant tongs to get the lumps of meat through the metal bars of their sleeping den, Andy explained how despite having mated, Yuki and Makari must be kept apart. 

As the cubs scrapped over who got the next mouthful of beef, he said: "She probably weighs easily 40 kilos less than him. So if there's a fight, the chances are there's going to be one winner. 

"In the wild when tigers meet, sometimes the male kills the female. But when we are looking to breed we do exhaustive genetic and behavioural checks to help make sure they want to pair with each other." 

It's tiger Tinder. 

Zoos including Dartmoor, Paignton and Newquay, London and Whipsnade, Bristol and Jersey have all reported financial struggles citing rising energy costs and higher National Insurance contributions. 

Andy Hall, from BIAZA, says they have "unique challenges" because "you can't cut costs with animal welfare". 

However, Jamie Christon, chief executive of Chester Zoo, has said it is not all doom and gloom and some attractions are "thriving financially" after their record-breaking 2,136,224 visitors in 2025. 

Jon Turley, general manager of Knowsley Safari, told the Sunday Express: "Like many businesses we have really noticed an increase in costs in the last couple of years. 

"But we are working hard to try and keep any price increases to a minimum so that Knowsley Safari continues to be a fantastic day out for families, without breaking the bank." 

*Although visitors cannot be a keeper for a day, there are lots of incredible experiences you can enjoy at Knowsley Safari. Just visit https://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk/tickets/animal-experiences