A more appropriate song couldn’t have been chosen for the funeral of Dundee’s Billy Buchan.
As mourners gathered to pay tribute to Camperdown Wildlife Centre’s inaugural zookeeper, Talk to the Animals by Sammy Davis Jnr was played.
But unlike the lyrics in the song, Billy did far more than just imagine speaking to animals – he devoted his life to their nurture and conservation.
A move to Dundee
Born on February, 19, 1954 Billy was the son of Ben and May Buchan from Perth.
To provide for his three children: Billy, Dennis, and Fiona, Ben worked as a shepherd – then a milkman – before joining the staff crew on the Dundee buses.
May worked in a graded egg factory then latterly, McColls newsagents.
They raised their children in Perthshire where Billy went to Kettins Primary, then Newtyle School.
He later studied at Forfar Academy before his family moved to Dundee when Billy was a teenager.
Camperdown Wildlife Centre
Fiona Jack is Billy’s sister.
She said: “Billy left school at 15-and-a-half and went to work in a box factory but it wasn’t for him.
“He started working with the animals at Camperdown when he was 17.
“That would be all he would do until he retired.”
However, Billy never treated his work as simply a day job.
“He travelled all over, going to zoos and learning everything he could.
“And it wasn’t unusual for him to bring animals home to mum and dad’s… including things like snakes.
There from the start
Billy lived in Charleston, Dundee from 1971 and joined the team at the wildlife centre shortly after.
Not ambitious to climb the career ladder, his priority and focus was always just looking after the animals.
Brad Yule is the conservation network manager from Camperdown and has known Billy for decades.
“I started volunteering at the park when I was 14 and Billy was there then.
“But if you see the place now it would be easy to forget that when he began it wasn’t really a zoo at all.
“There were enclosures dotted around the place but that meant in 1974 when it officially started becoming a proper zoo, Billy was the first proper zookeeper.”
In awe of nature
Along with his best friend Joe Morrow, Billy loved to travel the world, especially if it meant getting up close and personal with the wildlife.
The two friends met in 1979 through a mutual interest in rare animal breeds and natural history.
Joe said: “Billy came with my partner and I to Borneo.
“Although he was delighted to see orangutans, it was the fireflies and a six-inch millipede that he got most excited about.”
That’s not to suggest that he passed by beasts of a larger variety.
“In Port Elizabeth I remember him getting us up because he awoke to discover a herd of elephants grazing near by,” former QC, Joe, added.
He just seemed to know them
Within the confines of the Dundee zoo scores of breeds of animals and insects are homed.
And Billy was known for instinctively understanding what each and every one needed.
“He had a natural empathy about the needs of animals and animal behaviour whether it was bears, donkeys, birds, large gibbons or snakes.
“He even hand-reared a feisty abandoned weasel called Kizzy,” added Brad.
Animals were also part of his life at home.
In the past Billy looked after his mother’s cat, a collie called Lucky and his bright yellow Sun Conure parrot called Custard.
Cared for people too
Despite devoting himself to animal wellbeing Billy was incredibly popular with people too.
Joe said: “He was very much ‘all about the animals’ but he also had a huge capacity to make friends. People really did love him.”
This was perhaps because he proactively stood with those he believed to be marginalised.
“Billy was a proud gay man and he loved to take part in Pride, and to stand up for issues of diversity and inclusion.
“He made a point of opposing homophobia because he knew what life could be like,” added Joe.
Cancer diagnosis
Billy was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, almost as soon as he retired.
Throughout his illness he still enjoyed his garden and still made time for his family.
He is survived by Fiona and his four nephews.
She said: “I lost my husband 11 years ago and Billy was there for me when I needed him most. I’m so sad to think he’s gone. I think a lot of folk will miss him.”
Goodbye Billy
Billy passed away age 67 and a celebration of his life took place at Dundee Crematorium.
He had left strict instructions as to what he wanted.
His wishes included Mozart’s Magic Flute to be played and named friends to speak and to carry his coffin.
Billy’s vast bird book collection will be donated back to Camperdown Wildlife Centre.