Head of Wildlife, West Midland Safari Park
At West Midland Safari Park, we value the DMZAA above all other qualifications. As an internationally recognised course within the Zoo industry we find it designed specifically for our keepers and relevant in their day to day roles.
Although the majority of our keepers hold degree level qualifications when they enter the profession, this course gives them relevant theoretical skills to go along with their practical skills in a wide variety of topics from zoo legislation, nutrition, conservation, breeding programmes through to topics such as horticulture. As such, we expect all our keepers to undertake the course for career progression. When they have successfully completed it, they will be promoted to Qualified Keeper and receive a salary increase.
The residential is a great opportunity for our keepers to network and meet like-minded keepers from other collections and they usually remain lifelong friends.
I am involved, as a Year 2 Assessor, for Unit 29 The Management of Ungulates. All the units are assessed by experienced zoo professionals which is ideal as they have a thorough understanding of the subjects and the requirements needed.