Wildlife manager’s days stuck together by fur and feather

Life was all about horses for Robin Haeffner-Matos until it ran a-fowl.

The 55-year-old wildlife manager at the Flamingo Las Vegas grew up dreaming about being a veterinarian and working with horses. She even studied at Meredith Manor, a prestigious equestrian school in West Virginia, to become a riding master.

It remains a mystery, even to her, where her love of animals comes from.

"I was one of those people when they were kids that loved animals," she said. "I would smuggle mice on the plane home to Minnesota. I was just one of those people that liked animals, all of them."

Question: What was your first exposure to animals?

Answer: My parents have video of me at Disneyland when I was 2 years old in 1956. They have video of me struggling to get to these horses pulling carriages. Maybe it's genetic. I have a great aunt that was a horse person, but that's the only one.

Question: What caused you to switch to birds from horses?

Answer: I found out when I went to college I didn't want to be a veterinarian anymore. So, I stuck with horses. But they weren't fun anymore when it became a job. I had birds as a hobby, so birds then became my job. I was in Hawaii and I worked at a place called Paradise Park, which is an avian zoo doing bird tricks, dancing water shows and a 30-minute stand-up comedy routine with ducks and chickens.

Question: Why are you interested in birds?

Answer: Birds were surprising to me because horses were my life growing up. I was working part time at a pet store and just brought a couple birds home and it just kind of evolved from there. Birds, especially parrots, are surprising. If you've never had one before, they have amazing personalities. When I first started working with birds I was amazed at their personalities and that they actually had one. They showed affection and they wanted to be with you. That's probably what started me with the birds.

Question: What interested you in coming to Las Vegas?

Answer: My father had passed away a couple years before on the mainland and I was living in Hawaii. And it took a while to get where I needed to be when my dad died. All my family's on the mainland. I told my boss if a transfer opportunity ever comes up, I want to stay with Hilton, but if something comes up I wouldn't mind being considered. So, at the time, something came up and they asked me if I wanted to go to Vegas. I saw more of my family in the first year in Vegas than I did for the 13 years I lived in Hawaii. Hawaii's hard to get to.

Question: How did you begin working at the Flamingo?

Answer: While I was there working at Paradise Park, the Hilton Hawaiian Village wanted to set up a wildlife facility at their resort. They hired me to help them set it up. I was there for eight years. In 1995, this was Flamingo Hilton and they transferred me to set up a wildlife area. I worked with the architects, bought the animals except for the flamingos. They had already prepurchased them. As I understand it, and this might not be 100 percent correct, there were pools where the wildlife area is, but because the hotel is built in a U shape, the pool didn't get sun in the afternoon. They moved the pools when they did the big renovation and then made the gardens and the wildlife habitat in that area, which worked out great for us because in the summer it's cooler for the animals.

Question: How many birds do you have at the Flamingo?

Answer: We have about 70 birds, 300 large fish and about 30 water turtles. I started with 12 flamingos, 12 penguins and six swans. Then we just kept adding and evolving. We added koi and albino catfish because they're pretty. We added grass because they eat algae and they get huge. I've got some that are almost four feet now. I've got about 30 ducks. I currently have about 10 flamingos, eight or nine from the original group. They live into their 40s, a good, long life. We know ours are in their late 20s, early 30s.

Question: Did you think you'd be here 15 years when you first arrived?

Answer: Yes I did. It's a good company and I have the best job on the Strip. I've been so blessed. My office is a beautiful place. The animals are normally all happy to see me. They don't talk back. And for someone who likes animals, it's great. I'm good at what I do and when you're good at what you do you enjoy it.

Question: Do you have animals at home?

Answer: I have a dog at home and I just lost my cat. But nothing exotic because it's all here. I'm here five days a week or more with all the exotics and all the fun stuff so when I go home I have my normal dog and cat.

Question: Where did you go to college?

Answer: I was an eternal student. My dad was Air Force and I liked the traveling that they do. I went to 13 different schools up through high school and I enjoyed it. When I started going to college, my folks would get transferred and I would go with them. I went to many colleges, had a great time and never finished my degree. I probably could have gotten a doctorate if I had stayed in one place. I was studying biology and I needed one more semester to complete my degree in microbiology and genetics.

Question: Where were did you grow up?

Answer: I was born in Texas outside San Antonio, but our family was from Fargo, N.D. Every summer we went home to Fargo and where my grandparents were. My parents had a cabin on the lake in Minnesota. My mom still has it, she's still up there and we still go up every summer.

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at
aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.