7:00am Wednesday 8th September 2010
By David Lindsell
Rachel Wicks, 23, was so convinced she would never get her dream role as a marine biologist she gave up sciences at Nonsuch High School, opting for PE and Spanish.
But now she has landed a job as an aquarist, looking after killer crocodiles at the SeaLife Aquarium in London, deep underground next to the London Eye.
And she her unusual career choice had provoked some varied reactions at parties.
She said: “It is not what people are expecting to hear. I don’t look like your typical crocodile wrestler.”
In fact, she has steered clear of the jaws of her new work mates, an exceptionally bright and speedy pair of Cuban jumping crocodiles who can leap high out of the water to grab a bite to eat.
But despite their bad press, Rachel can still see the good side of the blood-thirsty reptiles, who arrived from Denmark on Friday.
She said: “They can be vicious and powerful but having done a lot of work with them they have some amazing qualities as well.”
In the wild they feed on unsuspecting birds foolish enough to fly low over their native swamp.
But in the aquarium the 3.5m snappers are fed on rats, chicks and mice, with their captors working on a hanging feeding system to encourage them to jump.
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