So when Flamingo Land gave me the opportunity to join the team and muck in for the day I could hardly contain my excitement.

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I wanted to find out what life is like for those dedicated members of staff who work through the busiest of summers and toughest of winters to look after the hundreds of creatures in the park.

I had no idea what my tasks for the day would include, so I rolled up my sleeves, grabbed my shovel and got ready to get stuck in.

My first job for the day was to help keeper Catherine Brenkley in Muddy Duck Farm.

After walking the ducks to the pond and letting out the rabbits into their paddock, we got down to the dirty work – mucking out the Dexter cows and Jacobs sheep.

While cleaning up and bringing in clean hay, I asked Catherine about her job, which she has been doing for four years.

The 25-year-old, who went to Askham Bryan College, said: "I've never looked back – I adore it. Every day is different.

"If you're an outgoing person, you love animals and you love being outside, it's the job for you."

Moving on to the Australian and South American paddocks, I met up with keeper Dace Vitola, who is originally from Latvia and has been zookeeping for more than 10 years.

First we went to check on the emus, kangaroos and wallabies. I was lucky enough to feed a red kangaroo called Rufus, who took a piece of banana right out of my hand.

I was also delighted to catch a glimpse of a tiny joey peeping out of its mother's pouch.

Dace told me the wallaby baby was probably about four months old and would stay in the pouch for up to nine months, though sometimes they can venture out after six to seven months.

We moved on to the South American area which is home to mara, which look like hares but are related to guinea pigs, tapirs and rhea.

I fed all three members of Flamingo Land's tapir family – mum Tiggy, dad Woody and baby Eddy, who I last saw in July when he was just a couple of months old.

I was also happy to hear that the patter of tiny tapir feet is on the cards as Tiggy is pregnant again and due to give birth in June or July.

Dace said: "Tapirs are definitely one of my favourite animals. Everyone thinks that when they meet them."

Next stop was the hippo house, where my task was to make up a bed for Betty, Godzilla and Ernie, who weigh about three and a half tonnes each.

After laying out their clean straw for the night, I put out their food which included a bale of hay and a dustbin full of vegetables.

Then I went to feed the five hybrid giraffes, including baby Shingo, which means "neck" in Swahili. He was born measuring an impressive six feet tall in November.

While we gave these beautiful creatures their lunch I asked Sam Debelle, one of the head keepers, what the best things are about her job.

She said: "The best thing is being able to interact with the beasts, watching them and working with them.

"It's quite an honour to work with these animals every day.

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