Zoo profile - Sunday Times - april

It was on his second day as a teenage volunteer at Dudley Zoo that David Field had a life-changing encounter.

Field, 41, is now Zoological Director of the two establishments run by the Zoological Society of London – ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade.

“I’d like to say my inspiration was David Attenborough or Sir Stamford Raffles who started this zoo, but it was probably Joe the Orang Utan. He was a remarkable animal.

“Joe loved Horlicks and the first time I went to feed him he gently manoeuvred the feeding can aside and, for ten minutes, we just looked at each other. I felt such a sense of responsibility for him and began to understand the responsibility we as humans have for the care of nature, whether it be in zoos or the environment.”

Field has 20,845 animals in his care together with 240 staff. He has been with ZSL five years, first as Whipsnade’s curator and as Zoological Director since 2006. His week now involves so much business planning that, last year, he completed an MBA.

“ It is quite an eclectic job. I am responsible for the animals but also for keepers and the veterinary department, development of new exhibits, future plans for the zoo and also education. It’s not just children, but finding ways to inspire all our million and a half visitors.”

Alongside weekly management meetings and one-to-ones with key workers, another priority is visiting all staff and animals at both sites.

“I like to know exactly what is going on with all the animals. Today I joined a briefing for the bird team and I visited our new gorilla who arrived yesterday – a gorgeous female called Mijuku.

“It is incredibly exciting. Today she met our male gorilla Bobby for the first time and, to quote my head keeper of gorillas: ‘love is in the air.’ “

Other highlights of his week were the opening in London of the Blackburn Pavilion for birds, and in Whipsnade, Cheetah Rock with extensive facilities for captive breeding of the big cat.

Those who disapprove of zoos may not have visited one lately. Field says: “Discovery and learning is one of the pillars of our work alongside research and conservation.”

“”Society is becoming so divorced from nature that places like zoos can really reconnect them with nature. It for their own well being.”

Zoos are now in the environmental frontline. Among many conservation projects, ZSL is pioneering the fight against a fungal infection called the Chytrid Fungus that is killing amphibians globally.

“It is an extinction crisis worse than the dinosaurs. The only survival hope for many amphibians is to set up captive breeding habitats.“

In an era when the challenges of climate change and global extinction seem overwhelming, Field remains optimistic. “ We cannot win all the battles, but I always remember a quotation from the anthropologist Margaret Mead. ‘Never doubt that a group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. It is the only thing that ever has.’”