News

Friday 23 May 2025

Georgia Gotts, deputy curator of mammals at Jersey Zoo, reflects on this year’s symposium of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers.

The Association of British & Irish Wild Animal Keepers (ABWAK) was founded in 1974 by Jonathan Barzdo from Marwell Zoological Park and Graham Lucas from Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, who contacted a handful of like-minded zookeepers and set up the association.

The driver for this was a belief that zoos could make an important contribution to conservation through educating visitors. The hope in forming the Association was to raise the professional status of zookeepers, help them do a better job, and provide a way for them to share experiences with other keepers.

Continual professional development is a key component of animal keeping, giving keepers the opportunity to network with other keepers, taking in new knowledge, skills and practical experience.

I became a member of ABWAK when I started my career in 2012 and saw an array of species-specific workshops being offered; these workshops were keeper led, budget friendly and the right level for a keeper just starting their journey. Every year they hold an annual symposium, and I was lucky enough to attend my first one in 2015 at Hertfordshire Zoo. This brought together over 200 liked minded people to talk all things husbandry, welfare and conservation. The networking opportunities were invaluable and the chance to learn new skills were fantastic; from that point I knew I wanted to remain part of the association and help where I could.

When the opportunity arose to become part of the council it was one I couldn't miss. All council members are zoo professionals who volunteer their time. This includes offering monthly workshops on topics like hoof trimming and tapir husbandry, sending quarterly newsletters sharing articles written by keepers across the UK, hosting an annual symposium and managing a website with an array of resources obtainable to members.

Chester Zoo was the host of the annual symposium this year. As part of the council, it is my role to attend the conference and assist with managing the 200+ delegates for the weekend to ensure it all runs smoothly. This year, I was joined by three mammal keepers, a bird keeper and herpetology keeper from Durrell, which for some, was their first time visiting Chester Zoo.

The symposium opens with a keynote speaker each year and I was very excited that this year it was delivered by Lee Durrell. Lee spoke about Durrell’s mission of saving species from extinction and Gerald Durrell's centenary year. It was so inspiring listening to Lee talk, the whole room was absorbed in her words.

I still can't get over the numbers of attendees! This year 81 zoos were in attendance, so the networking opportunities were incredible. I can truly appreciate all the hard work from the council members that goes into this event now, being on the other side of attending a symposium. Chester Zoo were amazing hosts with over 12 workshops throughout the weekend ranging from animal first aid to a behind the scenes tour of their new Heart of Africa exhibit; so much was on offer to the delegates. 

The biggest highlight for me, however, was watching senior keeper Sam present for the first time on the sloths at Jersey Zoo. I was very proud.