Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.04.2017, Page 55

HUMANS
Animal Lover,
Fox Tamer
Agronomist Stella Kristjánsdóttir has the
greatest job in the world
Words: Paul Fontaine Illustration: Varvara Lozenko

“I often joke that I was picked
up by the wrong family,” Stella
Kristjánsdóttir laughs as she
strews grain to a crowd of about
three dozen hungry ducks and
geese. Although born in Reykjavík,
Stella has spent her entire life fasci-
nated by farm life. So much so, that
she pursued an education in agron-
omy, and today works at the Reykja-
vík Family Park and Zoo, where she
does just about everything.
When we meet up with her, it’s
an hour before the zoo closes, and
she still has plenty to do. There
are a few families following her
with us, as she goes from feed-
ing the seals while talking about
their particular quirks, to the stall
housing goats, sheep and horses.
The adults amongst the guests
seem almost incidental; it’s the
children she pays attention to, en-
couraging them even to help her
feed these animals.
“Children can be shy about
having anything to do with the
animals, but if one of them does
it, the rest of them will,” she says.
This is especially apparent when
it’s time to milk the cows. Stella
produces a pail of milk, freshly
extracted from an unfazed heif-
er, and offers some to the kids.
They regard the pail of milk as if
she were offering them broccoli.
“Sometimes kids are even sur-
prised to learn milk comes from
cows,” she says. “When I ask where
they think it comes from, they’ll
often say, ‘from a carton.’”
Stella isn’t alone as she makes
her rounds. Svalur, a particularly
spry russet hound, follows her
everywhere. Wherever she goes,
the animals welcomed her: pigs
squeal, sheep bray, even normally
taciturn goats get antsy upon her
arrival. Her relationship with
these beasts seems to go beyond
mere caretaker. She greets them,
and regards them, as friends.
“I was vegan for a long time,
and I still support veganism,” she
tells us. “I’m not vegan anymore,
but I eat very little meat, and when
I do, I make sure it’s lived a good
life. I think it’s important for
everyone to get to know exactly
where their food comes from.”
The zoo soon closes, and we
wander up to the reindeer area,
where Stella shows us some of
the antlers that had been recently
shed. The animals seem wary of
us, despite handfuls of yummy
Icelandic moss being offered. But
it doesn’t matter, because the real
attraction is still to come.
As we walk down the hill from
the reindeer, Svalur suddenly
bounds forward. In the distance
comes a shrill cry that sounds like
something between a seagull and
a small dog.
All Creatures
Great & Small
“That’s the foxes,” Stella says. “The
female is kind of shy, but the male
absolutely loves the dog. They’re
always playing together.”
True to her word, when we get
to the enclosure, a small brown
Arctic fox is right up at the bars,
and starts wagging its tail and
screaming like crazy when it
sees the dog. The female watches
guardedly from a few metres be-
hind him. We’re led into the enclo-
sure itself, and I am nearly over-
come with joy to be this close to
not one but two Arctic foxes. The
male—who, we are told, is “par-
ticularly feisty” on account of it
being mating season—immedi-
ately sets upon the dog. Although
Svalur is easily more than twice
his size, this doesn’t stop the fox
from leaping up to bite his ears, or
to race him around the pen.
Stella pins the fox at one point,
rubbing its belly and cooing at it
with baby talk, before it breaks
from her grasp and sniffs curious-
ly around our ankles. It’s at this
moment that I become convinced
Stella probably has the greatest
job in the world.
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55 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05 — 2017
Duck this
A fox, foxing.
"It starts wagging it's tail and screaming like crazy.".
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