Invercargill’s living species officer role as popular as Henry the tuatara

Want to work with some of Southland’s iconic animals? Enjoy the atmosphere of Queens Park? Well then, Invercargill City Council may have a job for you.

Announced on their Facebook page on Tuesday, was the beginning of the recruitment process for the role of Parks and Recreation Living Species Officer.

The job famously looks after Invercargill legend, Henry the tuatara, the region’s oldest living resident.

But it’s not just Henry that the officer will spend their day with. The officer will interact with rabbits, a “myriad” of ducks, the “coolest” gang of alpacas, Petra the ostrich and many more.

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Former parks and recreation team member, Lindsay Hazley, recently retired from his role as senior living species officer 52 years after he joined the team.

Hazley was a tuatara enthusiast and even ditched school to go to Queens Park and care for them. He joined the staffing team in 1972 after many years working as a volunteer.

The living species officer role is different to Hazley’s senior position, Parks and Recreation manager Caroline Rain said.

But it is just as cool.

Rain said the biggest sell for the job was being outside in a “beautiful” setting and amongst “amazing” animals.

“There’s a lovely aspect of being able to share our job with the community over the different animals that we’ve got and why we’ve got them.”

The job will give one lucky applicant the opportunity to contribute to the council’s native bird feeding programmes and the Queens Park animal reserve, as well as the chance to actively support the development of the new tuatara facility.

A successful candidate will need to hold a New Zealand Certificate in animal care (level 3) or similar with a minimum of two years demonstrated experience in animal husbandry or caring for and handling animals.

The council’s Facebook Post got an overwhelming response from the community, with many mums joking their kids would love the job.

Rain said since putting up the post, it had reached over 10,000 people.

“We’ve had over 400 reactions, comments, shares and 300 of those have clicked through to the job description.”

Rain said it was always a “joy” to bring someone new onto the team, and she encouraged fans of the outdoors to come along and work for the team.

“If you want an outside job, keep your eye out for Parks and Recreation roles.”

Currently, Henry and his tuatara friends are residing outside of Queens Park as geotechnical work was carried out on Invercargill Museum.