Meet Melbourne Zoo’s first female director, Michelle Bruggeman

There’s a new ruler of the roost at Melbourne Zoo. And its first female director is challenging herself to woo even more visitors to the iconic attraction.

In the animal kingdom, dominant males tend to rule supreme.

Majestically maned lions reign over the savanna. Preening peacocks put on feathery displays of magnificent masculinity. And ginormous gorillas beat their chests to show who’s boss.

It’s a different story at the Melbourne Zoo, however, where it’s now the female of the species who rules the roost.

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For the first time in its 156-year history, the zoo has a woman at the helm with the appointment of the ultra-enthusiastic Michelle Bruggeman as its director.

Bruggeman joins a team of female leaders across Zoos Victoria, which includes chief executive Jenny Gray, board chair Kate Vinot and State Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

“I didn’t realise when I was going through the interview process that I was going to be the first female in the job,” Bruggeman says.

“But it’s not like you apply for a job just because of that. Because it’s turned out this way, I feel even more deeply honoured. It’s an awesome job. It’s a dream job, really.

“Yes, it’s the first time there’s a female director, me, but it’s also the first time there are females in all the top roles. And they’re so good. They are there because they deserve to be because they’re guns.”

Melbourne Zoo director Michelle Bruggemann with one of her new zoo friends. Picture: Jo Howell.

And what’s not to love in running a world-class zoo?

It isn’t lost on the former YMCA deputy chief executive that she gets to spend her days surrounded by 320 species of animals.

As such, her lunch break can be spent watching the zoo’s longest-serving resident, a giant tortoise named Little John, enjoying his new digs.

The centenarian reptile was recently moved by forklift into a new enclosure where he can enjoy cold showers on a hot summer’s day, not to mention the company of his young lady friend Jean, a more sprightly 80.

The pair have been courting for seven years without producing offspring, but the keepers are hoping the new quarters might work some magic.

The new zoo chief is fascinated by these veterans, but equally excited about the newer arrivals at Parkville.

Three lion brothers arrived from Werribee Zoo in December, and in recent months, there has been a treetop baby boom with the births of a red panda joey, spider monkey and several baboons.

Bruggeman says it was a difficult decision to leave the YMCA, where she had spent 20 happy years, but the challenge of heading up a place that held so many wonderful childhood memories seemed too good to pass up.

“Every year, just before Christmas, we would go to the zoo as kids,” she recalls.“I always remember the orang-utans, maybe because they seemed so clever and cheeky and fun. I remember the ice creams too, for some reason.

“When I got the job, I said to my parents — who are home every day because they are retired and in their late 70s — you’ve got to come back into the zoo. And they’re coming in next week.”

Melbourne Zoo director Michelle Bruggemann says she has a new appreciation for the animal world since starting her new role. Picture: Jo Howell

It was Bruggeman’s husband who convinced her to take the plunge into the new job while the couple were in Fiji celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary.

“I have been through that journey (of part-time work to accommodate family) and I now have three teenage kids,” she says.

“I’ve always juggled the work and the parenting. I was full-time when I came out of uni, then I went to part-time when I had kids and eventually I’ve come back to full-time work.

“I’d gotten to that age and stage where my husband was saying to me, ‘The time is now for you. You are capable.’ It was quite an emotional feeling to have.

“It’s a big commitment for us to make as a family. It’s not just about me. It’s about all of us, really.”

Bruggeman, 47, laughs that her children now encourage her to work on weekends so they can have an excuse to visit the zoo.

She hopes to lure even more teenagers and young adults back to the zoo with a two-week event in April, which will see it transformed into a spectacular display of neon lights and art installations after dark.

The brightly coloured, endangered southern corroboree frog and the fabulous illustrations from Graeme Base’s book The Waterhole will take centre stage in the new attraction.

“Neon Playground is going to be awesome,” she says.

“It’s the first time that we’ve had a night activation outside of (the hugely successful and sellout) Zoo Twilights concerts.”

Melbourne Zoo director Michelle Bruggemann says she’s listening to those who love the zoo best - its keepers and visitors - when considering its direction. Picture: Jo Howell

Even with their backing, Bruggeman admits family life can be a feat of logistics that can require just as much planning as running a zoo.

“What I find funny about the giraffes is that they eat for eight hours a day, which reminds me of my teenagers at home who themselves consume 15 litres of milk and seven litres of yoghurt a week. Not to mention all the fruit and vegetables.

“I reckon whether your kids are just born or 25, the volume of what you do is the same as a parent.

“Now I am just driving around to parties every weekend. Even at the weekend when we are not working, well, they are, and they have to be at the cafe for their part-time jobs at 6am.

“One plays championship, Victorian-level basketball so he’s playing all over the state. My other son does singing and dancing so he’s always performing. And then my daughter is a mix of everything.”

With her enthusiasm and hands-on approach, Bruggeman has made plenty of new friends at the zoo. One goes by the name of Felix.

“One of the keepers was showing me all the koi (fish) they had gotten out of the lake,” she recalls with a laugh.

“They were all really rapt and excited about these fish and then they say, ‘Come and meet Felix.’ So I had met all these keepers down there — John, Peter, Ron and Kay — and then it came time to meet this Felix.

“And they take me through this gate and all I can see is this massive pygmy hippo. The keeper says: ‘Hey Felix, say g’day to the boss. She’s the new keeper at the zoo.’

“So Felix turns around to me and I said: ‘Hello, Felix’ and he looked at me and then just opened his massive mouth and I was just in love.

“I thought, ‘That’s it, I just love Felix, he’s my favourite.’

“And then I came in the next day and someone introduced me to another animal and then another and I have loved them, too. I have loved all the animals I’ve met so far.”

Melbourne Zoo director Michelle Bruggemann joins an esteemed group of female leaders at Zoos Victoria. Picture: Jo Howell

Bruggeman says she’s always had affection for all creatures great and small and working at the zoo has only made her heart grow fonder.

And, yes, she’s even found a soft spot in her heart for snakes.

“Well, I went through reptiles the other day and the more you learn about animals and really watch their behaviour, you actually do fall in love with them,” she says.

“You get a new appreciation for them. Though, that said, I’m not keen on coming across a tiger snake while I’m out for a run.”

Bruggeman does a lot of running. She tries to cover about 35km a week — often not at a cracking pace, she hastens to add — to get fresh air and brainstorm ideas for the zoo.

She says she hasn’t come into her new role with preset ideas about what she wants to do for her many furred and feathered friends and their legions of visitors.

She has instead chosen to listen to those who know best — the keepers and those animal-loving visitors, young and old — who come through the gates year after year.

This may be heresy in some quarters, but she says the zoo membership is “double or triple the Collingwood Football Club’s membership”.

So how have the lions and tigers managed to top the Magpies?

“Melbourne Zoo has been here such a long time and has such a long history in Melbourne that it’s like it’s everybody’s own zoo.

“Everyone has a story. Everyone has a memory.”