The 44-year-old is now serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to the menagerie of animals at Billabong Zoo outside Port Macquarie.

Mr Rowe began the swap by studying a certificate three in captive animals at TAFE NSW Wauchope, before being hired as a keeper at the zoo.

"Spending time around animals is what I enjoy, and it is very fulfilling to work as a zoo keeper. I'm now in a career I love," Mr Rowe said.

"New things are happening at the zoo constantly, so I'm always learning. No two days are the same, and I get to work with a different species every day. If I had to choose a favourite, it would be Spider Monkeys, but I do enjoy the variation."

Billabong Zoo keeper Blake Stone, who also works as a TAFE NSW animal studies teacher, said students should be as job-ready as possible when they graduate because animals can be unpredictable.

"It's important that students learn the fundamentals of caring for animals in real-situations," he said.

"Animals are complicated and sometimes dangerous. There is only so much you can learn in a classroom, the rest of the knowledge these students need is in a workplace."

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