DoC - Kate McInnes, vet
Kate McInnes is a DOC Wildlife veterinarian.
Get to know more of the vets featured in Wild
Vets by clicking here.
What animals do you work with?
All the native animals in New Zealand - birds, bats, frogs, lizards
and sea lions, no-ones asked me to look at a snail ... yet!
Why did you become a vet?
I've always had lots of animals as pets, so I wanted a job where I
could help animals.
Your funniest/most memorable animal
story?
I was helping a researcher with some Kea behaviour research. This
involved showing the Kea bright coloured objects and observing
their reactions.
A solo Kea with orange and blue bands was hanging out at a
view spot with a wooden bench. We showed him the objects one by
one. A few were a bit interesting, but generally he'd poke
them with his beak and then get bored.
Finally we showed him a big fluffy red and blue toy. He took
one look, his eyes bulged wide and he ran up, grabbed it and ran
away. We had to follow him to keep observing him and get the
toy back. He just kept running until he got to the edge of a
cliff and jumped over!
He had a little ledge out of arms reach and sat there with the
toy. We could see all around him on the ledge were empty chip
packets, lunch wrappers and muesli bars. He obviously stole
food from passing tourists whenever they stopped for a rest on the
wooden bench, and he knew just were to hide out of reach so he
could eat them in peace! Clever cheeky boy!
Any memorable stories from the vet
clinic?
My new clinic is the open air of New Zealand - that's quite a big
clinic to work in! I've had some interesting places to visit
where just getting to the patient involved helicopters and boats
and climbing up cliffs! It's not the usual clinic that's for
sure.
I once spent four hours tramping over an island just to catch
the Kakapo I needed to look at. At one point, the bird ran back and
forth under some really thick scrub.
The DOC ranger with me was above me on the slope and kept directing
me "run left ... no he's moved, run right ... now run left again."
This went on for almost an hour and by the time we caught him, I
was exhausted, and the ranger was smiling because she'd just stood
there telling me what to do!
Fortunately the Kakapo was fine, so it was a happy ending, except
for my tired legs!
What animal would you like to have in your
backyard?
All the New Zealand native animals - it would be a bit crowded, but
the dawn chorus would be amazing!
What animal would you most like to see in the
wild?
Once again, all of the New Zealand native animals - they are
amazing. There's all different colours, different songs, things
that fly and things that crawl, things with scales, feathers,
shells and fur. What a cool place NZ would be if everyone
could step outside, got for a wee walk and see all the amazing
animals that call this place home!
Where in the world have you worked and what animals did you
treat there?
I was trained and worked in Australia. Mostly I worked with
dogs and cats, but I also treated birds and native
animals.
We once had a koala in the clinic - they aren't as cute and cuddly
as they look! She wasn't very happy to be there and made sure we
knew it!
Now NZ is home and I get to work with all the wildlife here. Often
the hardest part is finding them!
Which animal do you relate to the
most?
I really like parrots - they can be very loud and obnoxious - which
is what some Kiwis think about Aussies anyway! I love the Kakapo -
it's such a groovy parrot - kind of slow and cruisy but always
happy.
The Kea are really showy and have lots of fun - they don't care
about our rules! Kaka are lovely - they do the most amazing
whistling calls, although their loud squawks can be pretty annoying
at 4am!
But my favourite NZ parrots are the Kakariki - they don't get much
attention yet they are the most beautiful colours of green, blue,
red, yellow and orange. They are the subtle parrots. Watching
them scuffle on the ground to find food is really magical. I
have a photo of one eating bidibids - any bird which eats bidibids
so they don't get on my socks has got my tick of approval, that's
for sure.
What do you love most about your
job?
I love the NZ outdoors and the people I work with. There is nothing
better than a day out in the rain, sleet, hail, sunshine or
wind. The weather can be so extreme, yet everyone just puts on
a hat or jacket or whatever is needed and gets on with
it.
Working with passionate people is such a positive buzz. It's
like a big family and I'm proud to be part of it.
What would you change about your
job?
Nothing! Although if I could clone myself, I could get twice as
much done - that'd be good!
If you could make one change to help save endangered
animals what would it be?
Find a way to get more people involved. We can't do this
alone and I'd love to share it with everyone!
Advice for future vets?
Follow your passion. Life isn't about money or status, it's
about doing something that makes you feel that, at the end of every
day, you've made a difference. And if you can do that, you'll
always be happy.
