Bird trainer on the way up

JAKARTA (JP): There are many ways to make a living. Being a bird trainer is one of them and that is what Misstimah has been doing for the past five months.

"I love birds. I'm glad I've had the chance to do this job," she said.

Misstimah has been working at the Safari Park in Cisarua, West Java, since she graduated from the senior high school in 1993. She applied for a job at the park upon the suggestion of her relative, who works at the park's front office.

She was accepted and posted at the ticketing box of the rocket game. She was then transferred to the elephant show and after a year and a half she became a bird trainer.

"Working with birds is more fun and challenging," she said, adding that she now works from 7 a.m to 5:30 p.m.

Two or three times a month, she takes a class for employees held by the Safari Park management to learn about breeding, animal behavior, their anatomy, diseases and how they can be treated. The course lasts for a year.

There are more than 140 birds under the supervision of Misstimah and Nang, the other trainer who is also Misstimah's teacher. In the morning, they clean the bird cages, feed the birds and train them before running the bird show, which is held three times a day: at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Only 11 birds -- six eagles, two owls, two hawks and a parrot -- are included in the show.

The park has six Javanese hawk eagles, an endangered species protected by law. Five of the eagles are still wild and kept in a cage. The oldest one, called Mandra and believed to be male, is tied to a stand and put in a separate room with other tamed birds. Even though six-year-old Mandra is tame he cannot join the bird show because he is weak.

"Once we let him fly, but he fainted," Misstimah said.

She said that Mandra is spoiled and likes to eat from her hand. Mandra eats six chicks a day.

"He's shy, he doesn't want to eat if there is a stranger nearby," she said. (sim)