Victoria Ellis

A month in the life of a Zoo Keeper – My experience of favouritism and guilt. For the last month I have been working at a local zoo, looking after 3 very demanding, very hungry female Asian Elephants. The last month has been a rollercoaster of emotions and opinions about the ethics and morality of … Read more

    The sad truth about British indigenous species – not exotic or exciting and too familiar?   Those of you who have read my “About me” section will know that I am currently doing work experience at a local zoo on the Elephants and Big Cats section. The past two weeks have been excellent … Read more

Humans vs. our 3.7 million year old ancestor: Not so different after all? I love my degree (Zoology), but if I had to choose a different degree which I think I would enjoy equally it would be Biological Anthropology, otherwise known as the physical development of the human species or more generally human evolution. I … Read more

Humans: not so unique, not so special? The case of the clever Mandrill.   Introduction Not so long ago the world of science was very different. Leading scientists of their age believed in alchemy, a 6000 year old (flat) Earth and that DNA was unimportant. Another belief was that humans were superior to any other … Read more

The snow leopard: a forgotten casualty of war? Introduction In the busy modern world we all live in it is sometimes easy to forget the bigger picture. I for one will admit I don’t think about famine, poverty, global warming or war every day. That isn’t because I don’t care, but it is simply easy … Read more

Invertebrates telling water’s dirtiest secrets – L’Esteron River, Saint-Auban, France. As promised, here is a brief overview of the work I did in Saint-Auban, France on L’Esteron River. I decided to study the possibility of pollution from a water treatment works (WTW) that has recently been built entering the river.   Introduction Pollution – At … Read more

Introduction An article caught my eye a couple of days ago stating two quite interesting things. Firstly the Chinese population after census in 2010 has reached an astonishing 1.34 billion people, and secondly (and a little less of a bomb shell) the Chinese are now embarking on a once-every-10-year census of the Giant Panda population. … Read more

Saving UK Red Squirrels … too little too late? Introduction For the vast majority of my life I have lived in the Lake District, UK. Admittedly for most of my younger years I resented living in what I called “the middle of nowhere”, but as I grew up I began to appreciate its beauty. As … Read more

Just how wise is a wise elephant? Introduction When I tell people I study Zoology at University there are 2 common responses: 1)      Is that the study of how to be a zookeeper? 2)      What is your favourite animal? Now we all know Zoology is not the study of how to be a zookeeper, but … Read more