Zoo in England wants to hire ‘seagull deterrents’, gets over 200 applications

Seagull deterrents will be paid £10.80 an hour (approximately Rs 1,100) for the variable seasonal hours.

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More than 200 people applied for the job of a ‘seagull deterrent’ at England’s Blackpool Zoo in Lancashire, soon after the zoo put up the advert on its website and social media platform. As its name suggests, the job requires a person to scare away seagulls that supposedly steal food from animal enclosures and visitors.

What makes this rather odd job even more interesting is that ‘seagull deterrents’ need to be dressed in an inflatable bird costume to chase away the seabirds. The ‘seagull deterrents’ will be joining the zoo’s visitor services team and will be paid £10.80 an hour (approximately Rs 1,100) for the variable seasonal hours.

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On social media, while many people expressed amusement, others labelled the job as bizarre.

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In their job posting, the Blackpool Zoo mentioned: “We are looking for people that are: Visitor Focused, Friendly, Energetic, Flexible, Outgoing – as you need to be comfortable wearing a bird costume! This role will be offered with variable seasonal hours.”

The zoo has received an overwhelming response for the job application. While talking to BBC, Khaled Fawzy, the zoo’s section head for birds and events, said: “It’s gone crazy since the advert went out. We’ve had applications from all over the world with people sending videos of themselves dressed as bananas, pineapples, and of course birds. Some of it has been a bit bizarre.”