How A Professional Zookeeper And Dog Trainer Is Helping Save The Koala Population - with Simone Popp

In this episode of Beyond the Green Line we meet animal trainer and conservationist Simone Popp. Hailing from Sydney with a background in agriculture studies, her first job was teaching kids about sustainable farming methods and types of produce at an education farm. Part of her job was training dogs for herding demonstrations, and she fell in love with caring for and teaching animals. 

Simone later moved into zoo-keeping and tracking (with detection dogs) Koalas at Port Macquarie’s Billabong Zoo. In our chat today she shares how dramatically Koala numbers have dropped, and how education can help ordinary people contribute to the conservation of wildlife.  

Some of her favorite and most meaningful work to date has been doing post bush-fire surveys and checking for Koala populations in important areas. One of the team’s detection dogs was recently awarded the Canine Hero Award from the Royal Agricultural Society for finding and saving at-risk Koalas during the fires.  

Now an animal trainer and conservationist with Tate Animal Training in Port Macquarie, Simone gets contracted by local government and land services as well as national parks to utilize the dogs’ skills in order to conserve balance in the wildlife by checking cargo and surveying properties. 

Simone shares her gratitude for the farming and zoo-keeping opportunities afforded to her over the years, starting with working at a horse riding school as a child, then becoming a vet nurse, then studying agriculture in University. Now as a professional zoo-keeper and then dog trainer, she encourages anyone interested in this line of work to volunteer as much as possible to gain experience. 

https://www.facebook.com/tateanimals