Jade Bacon on placement

9 October 2013

A quick chat with BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare graduate Jade Bacon

Jade, 22, from Essex, graduated in 2013. She worked with a large range of animals during her placement year as a Keeper at Shepreth Wildlife Park, from common mongeese to tigers, lemurs and wolves. She cared for all aspects of the animals’ health and welfare, such as cleaning, feeding, observing behaviour, and health care, and also got involved in vet visits and public talks.

What was the highlight of your year at the wildlife park?

“The best thing about placement, apart from the animals, of course, was the people I worked with – it was inspiring to see their work ethic and how much they cared.”

What attracted you to Harper Adams?

The approachable lecturers, the countryside and the course. I love animals and always wanted to work with them and liked the idea of the four-year sandwich degree. The lecturers are very supportive and it is a very close community.

Tell us a little about what your course involved.

Lectures, practical anatomy dissections and labs, exams, assignments, trips to zoos and wildlife parks, and guest speakers.

What are your career plans?

Animal conservation or working with wild animals.

How do you think your course will help you with your career?

It is very broad and covers a lot of animal aspects of animal behaviour and welfare for prospective employers.

Shepreth Wildlife Park

Based near Cambridge this award winning wildlife park started life as a private wild animal sanctuary in 1979. It opened to the public five years later and today it is home to a wide range of animals, many of which come from zoos that have closed down, were unwanted pets or are part of captive breeding programmes. The park is dedicated to animal conservation and has raised more than £50,000 for many international wildlife and conservation projects over the years. Shepreth Wildlife Conservation Charity was formed in 2011 to take over the fundraising efforts. It has close links to the Wildlife Park and makes use of the Wildlife Park for its fundraising. SWCC is currently raising funds to build a new hedgehog hospital at Shepreth, as well as supporting conservation projects abroad.