Zoo Research Fellowship (Online)

This research project supports ongoing research at Lory Park Zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa. Projects include black-footed cat rearing, leopard and serval husbandry, the effects of lockdown on animal welfare, and improving welfare through enrichment projects. Students spend time learning to identify animal behavior and analyzing several camera traps.

Each fellowship is comprised of four blocks. The first block develops the basis of animal behavior, ethograms, and enrichment. The second block sets baseline observations by analyzing camera traps. After the enrichment project has been designed, block three analyzes camera trap footage after the project has been implemented. In block four, students work with the research team to combine data and statistically analyze it to present findings.

Students are supervised and mentored virtually in group and one-on-one sessions. Each six-week fellowship requires 100 research hours. They can earn 200 research hours with our twelve-week sessions. Upon completion, they earn a Captive Animal Behavior Monitoring and Enrichment certificate from Loop Abroad.