Zoo Animal Management and Conservation Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc

If you are passionate about the animal kingdom and would love to work in the zoo industry and conservation sectors, then this the course is for you. Specifically designed with industry experts and mapped against industry standards, this course has been tailored to provide you with a full and extensive range of knowledge, skills and experience to prepare you for a career in the zoo and conservation industry. The Foundation Degree in Zoo Animal Management with Conservation uniquely combines practical, academic and vocational skills training in a single course to provide you with the range of skills, experience and knowledge demanded by zoological institutions and conservation-based careers.

The two most distinctive features of the course are:


1. Access to our fully licensed, on-site commercial zoo offering access to an extensive range of exotic zoo animals, some of which are of important conservation status. The zoo also has a large range of domestic and agricultural animals to enhance the breadth of experience available
2. A multi-faceted approach, combining academic learning, practical skill development and vocational experience, uniquely linking the knowledge and understanding of animals with real world husbandry skills and applied zoo and conservation experience.


The Foundation Degree in Zoo Animal Management and Conservation was developed to meet the demands of employers and students for a vocational, industry led award to prepare you to enter the zoo and conservation sectors with a full understanding of the expectations of the industries along with their importance to each other, society and ultimately the future of the wider ecosystem.

The key educational aims of the award are:

As a graduate of this Foundation Degree in Zoo Animal Management and Conservation you will be able to demonstrate:

• Knowledge and critical understanding of the established principles in zoo animal management and conservation, and an understanding of the limits of your knowledge.
• Knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in zoo animal management and conservation and the ability to use established techniques to undertake critical analysis of information in order to propose solutions.
• The ability to evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems within the zoo animal management and conservation sector and to apply these in a work context.
• The ability to apply your knowledge and skills to new situations, including in the zoo animal management and conservation workplace.
• Effective communication skills in a variety of forms and for a range of audiences appropriate to the zoo animal and conservation industry.
• Improved and nurtured professional and transferable skills with a view to equipping them in your future career.
• Integration of work-based learning, academic study and practical experience and fully embed this vocational ethos into your programme of study.
• The confidence, skills, knowledge and power to become a lifelong learner.
• That you are well equipped to enter into career areas such as zoo keeping, research and academia, behavioural consultancy, zoo education, exotic animal education, conservation officer, ecological consultancy, exotic animal breeding, conservation based non-government organisations (NGOs), charity and public sector roles and the private exotic animal keeping sector including breeding and retail.