Durrell News

Quentin Bloxam retires after 44 years at Durrell

7^th February 2010

After over 44 years, Durrell’s Director of Conservation Management, Quentin Bloxam, retires today. He’ll miss the animals, staff and the banter but he hopes to be able to continue helping Durrell’s work where he can.

An important part of Quentin’s role at the Trust has always been to help develop its overseas work, and some of his favourite memories are of sitting quietly in the forests of Madagascar, watching animals. Now he’s relieved of the pressure of gathering data, he hopes to have more moments like this as he travels more in his retirement, as well as continuing to lead wildlife tours to Madagascar, Ecuador and the Galápagos.

Quentin says that the most satisfying part of his career with Durrell has been working with some of the people who have learned their craft here. “We still have extraordinary talent in breeding and managing species that nobody else can. And most of them, like me, came without any real animal management experience. They just developed and learned it. They had a great affiliation with the animals they worked with and went from strength to strength.”

Quentin will remain a member of Durrell’s Ethics Committee, and we expect him to be a regular visitor, keeping a close eye on progress. He is very positive about the future: “We’re in a new and very difficult era at the moment, but I’m very confident that, with the team we’ve got here, we’ll get out of it and go upwards. And part of me says it’ll actually be quite nice to have a rest!”

To watch footage of Quentin being interviewed click here

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