Erna Walraven was born in the Netherlands, moved to Spain as a young adult and stayed long to develop a robust appreciation of Spanish wine and tapas. She moved to Australia in her late twenties, where she picked up Australian slang to add to her language portfolio. She's worked as a translator and interpreter of Dutch, German, French, Spanish and English, and as a kennel-maid, zookeeper, petrol-pump attendant, waitress, aged-care worker, farmhand, conveyancing clerk, debt collector and dog washer. After trying many different jobs, she settled for zoology to eventually spend two decades as the Senior Curator at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. As the Senior Curator she was responsible for the care of some 400 wild animal species. She was also a consultant to other zoos on animal husbandry, welfare, and other matters.