Research Policy
The highest priorities in our park are awarded to Education and Conservation but understand that for both of these to cover all aspects of their respective fields it is important to try and engage our staff in conducting research within the park. We also allow outside researchers to gain access to our facilities to carry out research on our animal collection. We have in the past worked with institutions such as the University of Kent at Canterbury who carried out an extensive evolutionary study in to birds, taking DNA samples from a variety of avian species in our collection. Before, during and after the completion of a research project carried out in conjunction with Wingham Wildlife Park we do have a number of conditions which need to be complied with:
1. A research project proposal must be submitted to the park and must be approved by management before any work can be carried out. This needs to be done at least 4 weeks in advance. This proposal must give full details of all methodological and ethical considerations to be considered by the park first. Any such proposal must show that the research is ethically sound and will not cause any physical or pscyhological damage or distress to the animal in question, and will go through a very strict ethical review process.
2. The research project must show that it can be of direct benefit to the species or specific specimens in question. Alternatively if it can be shown to benefit the eco system of which the subjects are a part of or can be applied to similar species it can also be granted approval.
3. Research can be carried out on our living collection, other samples, studying animal records or through interviewing staff; however all of these are subject to availability of samples and assistance.
4. On completion of the project a copy of any publication / draft should be supplied to the park for their records, and any co-operation with the park should be referenced in any such material, mentioning the parks name and by name, any members of staff who may have directly helped with the research. Any plans for publications to be approached for submission should be passed on to the park, and the results of any such submissions should be made to the park.
5. As well as any completed reports the park wished to be given copies of any raw data which has been collected to allow for independent interpretation at a later date if required. Such data should also be made available for use by members of staff if our own research projects are to be carried out.
6. Research access is available to all professional researchers, Phd and Msc students, Veterinary and animal care staff, conservation professionals and younger students carrying out projects in a school or college setting.
We are more than happy to extend as much help as possible to any such work to be carried out at the park and strive to get more involved with the research side of the zoological world. We understand the responsibility and requirement of modern zoos to do such research to try and further our understanding of the animals which we work with. For a park of our size it is difficult to find dedicated research staff and as such the option to allow outside access is the most viable solution to encouraging research to be carried out at the park.
We do however have staff who carry out some research on a voluntary basis in and on behalf of the park with the following project planned to start its initial data collection stage later on in 2010:
“Substrate preferences in the Leaf Cutter Ant Species Atta cephalotes”, which is to be carried out at the park by Markus Wilder as a longitudinal study over the space of a minimum of 12 months to gain statistical insight in to the substrate choices made by this ant species. This project will allow for better dietary guidelines to be drawn up for this species to allow zoos to give a diet which maximises both ant activity and fungi productivity.
There is however one type of research which our staff are actively encouraged to engage in, which does not require any formal research training and which will not be published to journals etc. However they can be very useful tools when working with other zoos who may have the same challenges as us. We encourage staff to observe and document any challenging moves and acquisitions etc which we may have with the animal collection, with the following two having been documented:
· The introduction of 2 adult American Alligators.
· The introduction of 2 established groups of Slender Tailed Meerkats.
We feel that for the resources which we currently have available to us, we are making the most positive contribution which we can to the research world and as such are able to fulfil our duty to not necessarily carry out a vast amount of our own research but to make our animal collection and numerous years of animal data available in a controlled manner to people who may benefit from such access.