Cenla zookeeper retires after 38 years of service

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - Since she was 20 years old, Rhonda Napier has worked as a zookeeper.

Napier has known ever since she was a little girl that she wanted to be a zookeeper. While talking with KALB, she recalled going on a school field trip to the zoo and not wanting to leave the primate area.

“When I was 10 years old, my dad was in the military, and I grew up in Germany,” she said. “I went to the zoo on a field trip with my fifth grade class, never left the chimp exhibit. And I remember going home that evening, sitting on the kitchen counters, my mom was cooking dinner, and told her I was going to grow up to work with primates and that I was going to be a zookeeper. And basically, this is all I have done my whole life.”

For the past 38 years, Napier has dedicated her days to loving on every creature at each zoo she has worked at.

In May of 1986, Napier visited the Alexandria Zoo with her sister and her sister’s baby, and immediately fell in love with the zoo’s environment. In July of that same year, just months after her first visit, she accepted a job at the Alexandria Zoo.

“I put in an application and got the phone call and went to work in July of 1986,” said Napier. “No family, no nothing here. I moved back to work at the zoo.”

Napier said that she loved every part of her job. From getting muddy, to working early, she was committed to helping out and getting the job done.

She said the one downside of her job was the changing weather conditions that come with living in Louisiana.

“Everybody always asks me, ‘what’s the worst part of your job?’ The worst part of my job, to me, was the weather,” she said. “Cause we had to work out there if it was 32 degrees and sleeting. Yeah, we were out there. And 100 degrees, we were out there in it.”

For the last 33 years, Napier has worked exclusively at the Alexandria Zoo. However, after years of service to Alexandria, she decided it was time to retire and finally complete a few of the tasks on her ‘honey do list.’

“Every day’s been a Sunday to me,” said Napier. “I’m used to, on my weekends, doing projects around my house, this and that, but having to wind down on Sunday ‘cause ya know, I gotta go to work Monday. I have to keep reminding myself, ‘You don’t have to get it all done in a day, because I’ve got plenty of time to do it.’”

Napier said that while she does plan on eventually returning to the zoo to do some volunteer work, she is ready for the next chapter of her life.

“I do plan on staying retired, but the zoo does have an awesome volunteer program that I will probably get back into [later] on down the line,” she said. “but I do see myself staying away from it for a little while just to focus on me and some things I’ve gotta get done.”

Click here to report a typo. Please provide the title of the article in your email.