ANNUAL REVIEW 2014 01 Our mission 02 President’s statement 03 Chairman’s statement 05 Chief Executive’s statement 07 Conservation 08 Conservation science 10 Out in the field 12 RZSS Edinburgh Zoo 16 2014 highlights 18 RZSS Highland Wildlife Park 22 Community conservation 24 Engagement 26 Get involved 28 Financial summary 30 Our people and Society structure 31 Board, Honorary Fellows and Patrons 32 About us OUR MISSION Safeguarding species from extinction. Connecting people with nature. A Partula snail and young; the species has been bred at the Zoo for almost 25 years Annual Review 2014 01 1 Meerkats in their new PRESIDENT’S home at Edinburgh Zoo 2 Victoria the new female STATEMENT polar bear at Highland Wildlife Park What has always impressed me about RZSS’s people is their desire to move forward continually. Not content with the huge Our outreach and educational But there is still much to do and success of the Zoo’s centenary programmes – such as the we will only ever be as good as year – which saw great progress recently launched Wild about the experience of our last visitor. for the Society and extremely Scotland bus – have also made high levels of customer great strides in emphasising the As ever, I am deeply grateful satisfaction – the key question critical fact that, first and foremost, to all of RZSS’s people – the in 2014 has been ‘how can RZSS is a conservation charity. volunteers, the staff, the we make improvements’? management and the board. As you will find out on the pages Thanks also to our patron HRH Whenever I meet RZSS that follow, our international The Princess Royal, who always people, I find an intellectual conservation work has come on manages to find space in her and emotional commitment, leaps and bounds over the past diary for an official visit, and to all a passion for the Society to 12 months, with projects ranging our members for your continuing succeed, a belief in what we from protecting the African forest interest and support. Your passion stand for and a drive to make elephant in Gabon, to assessing for all that we do inspires me with things even better next year population genetics of sand renewed enthusiasm and pride. than they were the year before. gazelle in Oman. John Spence In 2014, we placed renewed President emphasis on the importance of customer experience. Research has shown us time and time again that visitors love to hear the story of our animals and how it relates to conservation in the wild, and recent changes have helped us redouble our efforts in this area. The merging of our Animal Presentations, Education Talks and Visitor Experience panda teams has led to dramatic improvements in the visitor experience for our customers, with the public responding positively to our new approach. While we were all disappointed when Tian Tian, our giant panda, failed to carry her pregnancy to full term, there was still much to celebrate in 2014, including the 100 year celebrations of our penguins at the Zoo, the building of a new polar bear enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park, our new Meerkat Plaza and the birth of Velu, the first baby chimp to be successfully reared in Scotland in 15 years. 02 Annual Review 2014 1 CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT 2014 was a year where the Society returned to its roots, renewing our focus on the fundamental priorities of conservation, education and research. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, trustees and supporters, the Society is in as strong a position as it has ever been. We have taken major steps forward in fostering external relations, attracting new members, expanding our educational resources, and working more systematically and efficiently on fundraising activities. Last year saw the launch of a number of new attractions at Edinburgh Zoo, the highlight for me being the rejuvenation of the 2 front entrance. This has been a symbolic step forward: since the loss of our sea lions in 2012, our entrance had been lacking in Of course, our organisation 2014 was also a year where impact. The meerkat enclosure – cannot achieve everything it we further spread our wings alongside the splendid new wants to on its own. It was for internationally. For a long time, welcome plaza – is a lively this reason that I was delighted the Society has perhaps had greeting for our visitors and when we signed a memorandum an understated involvement underlines our commitment to of understanding with the in conservation overseas. Our improving the visitor experience. University of Edinburgh, and work in the Budongo and we are developing plans to Pantanal regions, of course, has Highland Wildlife Park is also in work more closely with a number always been a source of great the process of being transformed. of academic institutions both pride but, in 2014, the Society This year will see a number of at home and abroad, not least really stepped up its activities. exciting developments, with in research and education. Our work in helping to combat the arrival of Victoria our new the threat of the illegal wildlife female polar bear, as well as We have been maintaining and trade, for instance, has had a snow leopards and amur developing strong relationships real impact in Sub-Saharan Africa, leopards, not to mention the with other partners and friends, Southeast Asia and beyond. start of captive breeding of the including the Royal Botanic threatened Scottish wildcat. Garden Edinburgh, the National Looking forward to the year Museums of Scotland, Scottish ahead, I expect 2015 to be a In 2014, we laid the groundwork, Enterprise, Highlands and Islands year when we really bring the key building a new polar bear Enterprise, the City of Edinburgh objectives of the Society to life enclosure and launching our Council, the Royal Society of – at our sites and further afield – overall Big Cat Strategy, which Edinburgh and Our Dynamic putting our crucial conservation, articulates an ambitious vision Earth. Together, we can education and research efforts for the future of wild cats both be much more effective, firmly on the map. in the Park and at the Zoo. particularly when it comes to conservation-related work. Prof Jeremy A Peat Chairman Annual Review 2014 03 Marty the adult male Amur tiger at Highland Wildlife Park CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S STATEMENT The past year has been all about review and renewal for RZSS, with a key focus on the business side of the Society to help ensure the organisation continues to thrive for the next 100 years. We have been looking at We have been building and On that note, I was delighted our sites, visitor experience, expanding upon long-standing with the progress we have made education, and partnerships programmes – including Wild internationally to help combat and relationships. On the about Scotland and our Beyond the problem of the illegal wildlife ground, this has involved the Panda education outreach – trade. We now have an RZSS work on exhibition design, while strengthening our scientist stationed in Jakarta, interpretation, and the journey partnerships with other working with governments and around the sites, so our visitors key organisations in Scotland, agencies across Southeast Asia. not only have an enjoyable including a new memorandum We also have research and policy experience but also come away of understanding with the interactions with a number of with a much stronger sense University of Edinburgh. We African governments. of the range and depth of have also taken a closer look the work that we do. at our economic contribution 2015 will mark the tenth to the city and the country anniversary of our involvement All of this work has been in as a whole. with the Budongo Conservation line with our mission statement: Field Station and we will be ‘safeguarding species from Sustainability also took a continuing to support that, as extinction. Connecting people leap forward in 2014. We are well as our work in the Brazilian with nature’. Fundamentally, continuously reviewing and Pantanal. Following on from we are more than a zoo. refining how we manage our our Giant Panda Research A key part of this mission is energy, waste, water and Symposium in 2013, we are the Society’s social contribution, transport, developing a new five also continuing to work with our something which has progressed year programme with Scottish Chinese partners on the ecology this year as we work to develop Enterprise and Resource Efficient of bamboo forests, as well as learning and discovery, with the Scotland to ensure we ‘walk supporting pandas in the wild. possible launch of a Discovery the talk’ when it comes to Centre on site in the near future. sustainability. This goes far Closer to home, we launched beyond simple compliance our Big Cat Strategy in October. with legislation, as we seek to This represents a major step develop best practice and then forward in how we manage to demonstrate it, connecting accommodation and breeding environmental issues on our for our cats, both at the Zoo doorstep to RZSS’s wider and in the Park. We will soon conservation objectives. be launching, for example, a new off-site facility for our two Amur leopards at Highland Wildlife Park, to ensure privacy and to help with the development of the re-introduction of offspring into the wild. Only around 35 to 50 Amur leopards now remain in the wild, so these developments could hardly be more timely. I can think of no better illustration of the Society’s vision, and I look forward to seeing this RZSS now and many other conservation works in over projects flourish over the months 20 countries and years ahead.