Conservation in Action 2025 (EXTERNAL SHARE) - Flipbook - Page 54
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118 full time team members
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Our team are integral to the work that we do. In 2025 we had a peak of 194 employees and ended
the year with 118 full time members made up of 47 male and 70 female. To support them, in
2025 we launched a new Employee Assistance Programme which provides 昀椀nancial support,
nutritional consultations, mental health support, 24/7 remote GP, medical second opinion, 1-2-1
life coaching, savings & discounts and 10 counselling sessions. We had a focus on sta昀昀 social events
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and organised four sta昀昀 events (New Year Party with annual awards, quiz
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night, summer party, friends and family lanterns event). To improve our
team communications we delivered two all zoo team training days, and three
Employee Roadshows where our Senior Leadership team shared updates and
held questions / discussion sessions. Finally, we established a Mental Health
First Aider Team to focus on wellbeing in the zoo and held an event on World
Mental Health Day.
Director
IMPACTFUL SCIENCE
Conservation
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Katherin
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The Ape Heart Project has been working hard to improve ape heart health in European
zoos since 2013. To date, the project has published over twenty peer reviewed papers
to share knowledge of this important medical condition in great apes.
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In 2025, we started 14 Twycross Zoo-commissioned research projects (i.e. projects
addressing research topics identi昀椀ed as a priority by zoo sta昀昀), an increase of over
27% since 2024. This was facilitated by strong academic partnerships, including six
current PhD students with Zoo supervisors. Our sta昀昀 were authors on 昀椀ve peerreviewed scienti昀椀c papers published in 2025, with a further four papers in review by
the end of the year.
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In 2025 we welcomed three new veterinary pathologists to the project from
University of Nottingham to enhance our review of ape hearts following natural
death or euthanasia. We also published a paper comparing invasive to non-invasive blood pressure
in anaesthetised bonobos to highlight the accuracy and possibility of using non-invasive blood pressure
monitoring in conscious Bonobos via positive reinforcement training.
Prioritising animal welfare science is embedded into Twycross Zoo’s values. In 2025, we began
implementing remote detection methods to capture animal behaviour across a 24 hour period. Camera
systems provide details on animal activity both during the normal working day and outside of zoo hours.
As part of our intensive animal welfare monitoring process for our Lanterns of the Wild event, camera
systems have been implemented for multiple species to collect in-depth information on our animals’
behaviour and response to the event.
In addition, a co-supervised PhD with Nottingham Trent University is working to use arti昀椀cial intelligence
to monitor chimpanzee behaviour, with the potential to transform welfare data collection. The
system aims to provide continuous, 24-hour automated behavioural monitoring with real-time alerts,
enabling keepers and veterinary sta昀昀 to respond quickly to changes in individual behaviour. This
work seeks to establish the most comprehensive behaviour monitoring programme in the zoo.
