Whipsnade Zoo Academy Report by Chhaya
Mistry
I would like to start by thanking the Friends Educational Award for the funding which helped me make my project possible. Thanks to this Award I have gained valuable work experience which has helped me in writing my application to study Veterinary Medicine at University: many universities require work experience with animals both in a husbandry and clinical context. This experience has helped make my application stand out as I was able to work at a zoo with a wide range of exotic animals.
My project plan was to attend a Zoo Academy at Whipsnade Zoo (a sister zoo to London Zoo) The course consisted of spending a week working at the Zoo with theory and practical sessions throughout the day. Learning about animal welfare from a zoo’s point of view was very interesting as they must balance the welfare of the animals with the maintenance of the Zoo. Each day had a theme relevant to the Zoo and the animals’ welfare. For example, we covered issues such as the Noah’s Ark problem, which concerns the agony of choice of which animals should benefit from animal conservation over others, as there is not enough funding to save them all. We also learnt about conservation efforts that the Zoological Society of London has been involved in, such as the Back from the Brink program which brought the European Bison back from the brink of extinction. As well as conservation we covered topics such as the role of a modern zoo, the importance of nutrition and records, how training helps animal behaviour and thinking about key stakeholders when designing enclosures. Practical sessions were based around the themes of each day, whilst we also worked on a group project designing a carnivore enrichment feed for African hunting dogs for the end of the week. The best part of this incredible experience was the birth of a baby elephant on the Monday we arrived at the zoo and seeing it before the BBC reporter later that evening.
I learnt so much from this experience and would like to thank the friends again for enabling this experience to be possible for me. I would encourage everyone to apply for this award!
Project Photos
Some of the tiger enrichment we saw during the tiger feeds.
The European Bison that were part of the Back from the Brink program.
The Baby elephant and its mother.
An example of the birds’ training that we watched at the bird show, completed outdoors with no net.
African hunting dogs with our enrichment feed at the end of the week.