A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WA ZOOLOGIST

Brad Maryan caught his first snake at age 8. 

“I was looking around in the bush and came across a snake,” says Brad.

“Somehow I caught it, took it home and frightened my mum to death with it!”

So began Brad’s passion for animals, specifically reptiles.

Brad travels all over Western Australia as a zoology consultant. He locates animals and monitors their populations.

His successful career has involved discovering new reptile species, writing academic research papers and co-authoring field guides.

But he never attended university – the bush was Brad’s classroom.

THE EARLY DAYS

Brad grew up in Perth and spent his spare time hunting for snakes.

When he wasn’t searching for snakes to scare his Mum, Brad had various part-time jobs but none involved animals (unless you count Chicken Treat!)

These jobs financed the purchase of Brad’s first camera to take photos of wildlife – a hobby he still enjoys to this day.

Brad got his first job working with animals at age 20 – as a bird keeper at Perth Zoo.

He admits he told a white lie to get his foot in the door.

“They asked me if I kept birds at home and I had to tell a white lie because I wanted the job so much,” says Brad.

“I’ve never kept birds in my life but I told them that I did … the only birds I’d ever had were day-old chickens in my freezer so I could feed my snakes!”

Despite being a reptile lover at heart, he was happy working with animals.

Although it was a big learning curve, Brad promises all the birds survived.

UNUSUAL HOUSEMATESSS

Brad didn’t mind working with birds because he had plenty of pet snakes at home.

He kept local species, including dugites, tiger snakes, death adders and mulga snakes.

By this stage, Brad was living in a sharehouse with some friends who did not share the same passion for snakes. 

“Once they buggered off and I was left to my own devices, I thought you beauty! More spare rooms! So I acquired more snakes.”

After a decade at the zoo, Brad got his first job working with reptiles. Unfortunately for Brad, they were all dead specimens.

SCALY STOCKTAKE

Brad joined the WA Museum as a part-time employee auditing the reptile and frog collections.

“There were thousands and thousands of specimens,” says Brad.

“It was basically stocktake.”

Brad considers himself fortunate to have had his start in herpetology – the scientific study of amphibians and reptiles.

“I was lucky,” says Brad.

“If I applied for this job now, I probably wouldn’t get it because I don’t have that piece of paper.” 

While he didn’t have a university degree, Brad had strong industry connections. 

It was a classic example of it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. 

After 2 and a half years of frog and reptile stocktake, Brad secured a full-time, permanent job at the museum.

After 10 years with the museum as a curator, he left to work for an environmental consultancy company.

“LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN”

Brad spent a lot of time in the Pilbara during the first 4 years of his new job.

“Gone are the days of going in and blowing [stuff] up,” says Brad.

“You’ve got to tick all of the environmental approval boxes because there’s a lot of things out there that need to be monitored and searched for.”

This experience enabled Brad to continue learning and strengthened his passion for Australian animals and environments.

His advice to those wanting to work with animals?

“Go out bush … and experience it for yourself,” he says.

Brad has taken some incredible photos during his time in the outback.

While his work doesn’t leave much spare time for nature photography, he gets behind the lens whenever he can.

MORE TO DO

Brad encourages people to get involved with environmental conservation.

“We’re just not trying hard enough,” says Brad. 

“In a country like Australia, which is excluding Indigenous occupation, our wildlife conservation record is abysmal.

“We lead the world in mammal extinctions and we don’t seem to be turning it around because we’re just not taking it seriously enough. 

“We have to decide what is more important, because you can’t breathe, drink or eat money.” 

Brad wants our Australian ecosystems to last forever, but for this to happen, we need to work harder to protect our unique wildlife and their habitats.

“Our rule of thumb should be that the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse,” Brad says. 

Brad is a walking, talking reptile encyclopaedia.

He has forged his own career path doing what he loves as one of Australia’s leading herpetologists.

“I kept on going out bush and nothing has really changed,” says Brad.