Learning from the mighty matriarchs of the animal kingdom

Erna Walraven was one of the first female zookeepers to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in the 1980s. She ignored practical jokes from her male colleagues, like animal dung in her gumboots, and this led to career highlights like travelling the globe to select the zoo's next gorilla patriarch. (R)Erna was born in The Netherlands, to parents who were involved in the Dutch resistance during World War II.Erna's love of languages took her to Spain, where she lived for many years with her widowed sister and young nephew.It was there she met a penniless Australian backpacker and fell in love, starting Erna on the path to the rest of her life.Further informationOriginally broadcast May 2025.Hear Me Roar was published by Affirm Press in 2025.This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.This episode touches on feminism, sexism, animals, breeding gorillas, zoos, captive animals, Dutch resistance, marry an Australian, Spain, love of languages, history and Europe.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.