Erna Walraven

Erna Walraven was born in the Netherlands and moved to Spain as a young adult and stayed long to develop a robust appreciation of Spanish wine and tapas. She moved to Australia in her late twenties where she picked up Australian slang to add to her language portfolio. She’s worked as a translator and interpreter of Dutch, German, French Spanish and English as well as a kennel-maid, zookeeper, petrol pump attendant, waitress, aged care worker, farmhand, conveyancing clerk, debt collector and a dog washer. After many different jobs she settled for zoology to become one of the first female zookeepers in Australia and eventually became the Senior Curator of Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. As the Senior Curator she was responsible for the care of some 400 wild animal species.

Erna’s latest book Hear Me Roar is a memoir of zoo keeping and what animals have taught her about feminism.