- When Brandon Gifford landed his dream role at the Australian Reptile Park, he never expected to meet his soulmate too
- After first connecting online, Brandon couldn’t wait to meet Ellesha
- Now the happy couple are planning their dream wedding!
Here Brandon tells his story in his own words.
Tip-toeing through the grass, my heart hammered as I approached the deadly critter.
Moving swiftly, I gently grabbed the 1.5m long red belly black snake by its tail and guided it onto the tree branch I was using for protection.
Then I released him back into the bush.
Growing up on my grandparents’ cattle farm in Casino, NSW, my dad, George, mum, Adele, and two older sisters, Candice, then 14, and Kirby, 12, were terrified of snakes.
But I wanted to save animals – like my hero, Steve Irwin.
I quickly became known around our tiny town as the ‘snake catching kid’ despite being only 10.
‘I gently grabbed the 1.5m long red belly black snake’
‘Please be careful,’ Mum always begged when I went to rescue another snake on a property around town.
Five years later, aged 15, I signed up as a volunteer at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland.
My parents drove me the two-hour trip and I spent every school holiday and weekend volunteering.
Shadowing the keepers, when I wasn’t cleaning animal enclosures, I was getting hands-on training with birds, cuddling koalas and feeding Tasmanian devils.
By 17, I had my heart set on becoming a zookeeper and took on another volunteer position at Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland.
Working with the 80 resident koalas, walking the nine wombats, feeding the devils and dingos – I had my hands full.
READ MORE: ‘A Wildlife Warrior At 3!’
Studying animal sciences and captive animal studies at TAFE, I then landed my first paid job in 2016 at Australia Zoo as a roving entertainer, taking animals out to meet guests, before quickly transitioning to mammal keeping.
Keen to meet like-minded people, I connected with other Aussie zookeepers on Instagram. That’s when I met Ellesha, then 18.
A native mammal and bird keeper at the Australia Reptile Park in Somersby, NSW, Ellesha’s smile was breathtaking.
Getting along like a house on fire, we texted back and forth about our days and passion for animals.
Six months later in September 2018, I landed the role of senior reptile and spider keeper at the reptile park where she worked.
‘I could spend the rest of my life with you’
My job was to milk snakes and spiders for their venom to make anti-venom.
And while I was over the moon to land my dream job, I was most excited to finally meet my dream girl.
The moment I saw Ellesha in person, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Stealing glances from across the park, I’d find any excuse to wander to her side and have a chat.
It was a joy to watch her in her element with the animals.
After a month, Ellesha approached me at a work event. ‘You have to ask me out,’ she smiled confidently.
A week later, I did, and we got to know each other better over dinner.
From then on, we became inseparable.
READ MORE: ‘Aussie wildlife carer: ‘I’m a dad to wombats!’
When Ellesha took a job at Australia Zoo a year later in May 2019, I followed her to Queensland.
While she worked in the rescue unit, I took on a role as a reptile keeper, getting hands on with Komodo dragons, snakes, and crocs.
Watching Ellesha gently cradle a koala joey in one arm, a bottle in the other, my heart was full.
I could spend the rest of my life with you, I realised.
So in May 2022, I surprised Ellesha with a week away in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania.
‘I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me’
As the sun set over the jagged peaks and glacial lakes of the national park, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.
‘Yes!’ Ellesha beamed.
In September 2024, we moved back to Somersby, NSW, where I took on the role of operations manager at the Australian Reptile Park, while Ellesha went back to uni to study ecology.
Whenever any animals at the zoo need a little extra help getting back on their feet, we’re always ready to open our home.
Together we’ve hand-raised Tassie devils, koala, kangaroo and wombat joeys, and dingo pups.
In September last year a four-month-old kangaroo joey named Roosta, who lived at the park, was rejected by his mum so we decided to bring him back home with us where we could look after him.
At just 600 grams he was the smallest joey we’d ever cared for.
READ MORE: ‘Aussie wildlife warrior: I’m raising my kids with koalas!’
At that age, joeys are completely dependent on their mum, so we took the role of ‘parents’ very seriously.
To mimic the heat of his mum’s 34-degree pouch, we placed Roosta in a humidicrib and juggled bottle feeds every three hours.
While it was touch-and-go for a few months, Roosta defied the odds!
Growing bigger and stronger every day, Roosta transitioned from the humidicrib to a pillowcase in a tote bag hanging on the bed post.
When we woke to find him snuggled in between us in bed, licking our noses, we knew he was going to be okay!
Now 10 months old, Roosta is a confident little guy with so much love to give.
My little hopping shadow around the reptile park, Roosta comes to work with me and accompanies me on my daily inspections of the animal enclosures.
While we’d love for him to be the ring bearer at our wedding this December, he will soon be big and strong enough to transition to being with the rest of the mob here at the park, where we’ll care for him from afar.
It’ll be bittersweet to let him go, but he deserves to be with his own kind.
And I’m sure he won’t be the last animal in need that we foster.
Every animal we help is a small step towards protecting and conserving our precious natives for generations to come.
With Ellesha by my side, Aussie wildlife is in safe hands.
