The Sixth Howletts and Port Lympne Student Environmental Enrichment Course
(SEEC)
11th to 14th April 2011
Instructors: Mark Kingston Jones and Chris Hales
Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks are pleased to announce their sixth
Student Course on Environmental Enrichment to be run by Mark Kingston Jones and
Chris Hales, in collaboration with keepers from both institutions. Mark has been
involved in the animal welfare field since 2004. He now works at Howletts and
Port Lympne as ‘Enrichment and Research Officer’, organisingworkshops, talks and
working with keepers to design and implement enrichment ideas. In addition to
running the previous Student Environmental Enrichment Courses, he has been
involved in three Shape workshops, in the UK and Indonesia and is now the
Shape-UK and Ireland Events Co-ordinator. As well as being an Honorary Research
Fellow of the School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, he
received two animal welfare awards for student research projects, and has
presented 10 talks on topics relating to animal welfare at conferences, both
nationally and internationally. Chris has been an instructor on four previous
courses, having been a Keeper at Port Lympne for 12yrs, with experience working
on every section with a multitude of taxa. He has a wide range of experience in
the field of husbandry and enrichment,specialisingin carnivores and developing
long term secondary enrichment to promote natural behaviourswhich he presented
on at the 2010 REEC.
This course is designed specifically for college and university students (past
and present) who do not currently work within a zoo setting, but are looking to
do so as a career. Over 3½ days students will gain a background in animal
welfare and enrichment, dealing with welfare needs of different species, as well
as providing practical skills in designing, building and testing enrichment
within the settings of both Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, in
Kent. Our aim is to provide valuable experience and an overview of additional
useful skills to a would-be keeper’s CV. Please note you must be 18 or over to
attend this course.
This course is roughly split equally between lecture and practical components.
Lecture topics include: Animal welfare, the 5 categories of enrichment, the
enrichment framework, animal husbandry and learning, enclosure design and
breaking into the zoo world. Additionally there will be Keeper lead talks and
practicals involving working with carnivores, primates, ungulates, elephant
management, in-situ conservation, rope splicing and fire hose weaving. The
final day of the course will result in the application of all these principles
as delegates are split into groups allowing you the opportunity to design, build
and test enrichment with one of our animals from a selection of species.
Please note that delegates are required to provide their own lunches and can
either bring their own or purchase food from the canteen. Information on
discounted accommodation including dinner, bed and breakfast is available on
request and the number of available places is limited, so please book early.
The workshop registration fee of £150 includes:
~ All workshop materials over the 3½ days.
~ Practical sessions.
~ Drinks and biscuits during the scheduled tea breaks.
For further information and to request a booking form please contact: Christine
Dutfield on:
ccw@aspinallfoundation.org
Deadline for registration is the 20th March 2011.
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