Chief Executive's Report
(for the twelve months ended 31 January, 2001)

I am pleased to be able to report that these last twelve months have seen the steady but conscious development of our subscriber base with the emphasis on establishing enduring ties with many important institutions and organisations. However, the year was disrupted by the dreadful events that led to the sinking of the MV Treasure off Cape Town, South Africa, the home of the African penguin. For four weeks during July to August 2000 WIN seconded Dr Debra Bourne, at the request of the RSPCA and IFAW, to assist with the international effort to clean and rehabilitate 20,000 oiled African penguins (Spheniscus demersus). This project, which was led by SANCCOB, was successful in returning to the wild about 95% of the oiled penguins, representing nearly 20% of the world population and was recognised as being highly significant for the conservation of this species. We at WIN are particularly pleased with our contribution to this international effort and are proud to report that Debra was "mentioned in dispatches" for her professionalism and tireless work.

Throughout the year the WILD Pro information system has been extremely well received, as shown by the support we have enjoyed already from both individual and institutional subscribers (see addendum attached) and we continue to work hard to accelerate the data collection and to produce additional modules.

Our most recent module UK Wildlife: First Aid and Care is now available; this module evolved as a third year's funding by the Bridge House Estates Trust Fund from the original London Waterfowl Project. New modules planned for this year include Veterinary Parasitology (Nematodes) and Diseases of Elephants and Rhinos. We are also impatient to address the next major module Large Carnivores as we consider this information to be vitally important because it not only contains detail information on large cats but includes bears as well. A large carnivore module would make an immediate and measurable difference to wildlife and is high on our priority list.

Late last year we received our first commission to produce a dedicated module using the WILDPro information system. We were approached by the National Wildlife Health Center, US Department of the Interior (NWHC) to work with them to collate information on West Nile Virus. This commission was orchestrated by NWHC and combines the funding for both the data collection and the further on-going development of the data holding system behind the WILDPro search engine. This software development is a major step forward for WIN and should be considered a milestone in our overall controlled expansion. We are confident that similar commissions will be offered to us as WILDPro becomes more widely known and specific data needs are identified.

In addition to the various modules available on the WILDPro Website, we also publish in part or in full external documents and texts, and the few examples listed below illustrate the range of information that we are currently offering our subscribers:

• Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases - General Field Procedure and Diseases of Birds (National Wildlife Health Center)

• Management Guidelines for the Welfare of Zoo Animals (Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland)

• A manual of principles and practice (The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust)

• Guidelines on the Rescue and Rehabilitation of Fox Cubs (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

• The Environmental Husbandry Manual - based on techniques used at Edinburgh Zoo

• A Handbook for Mahouts (Zoo Outreach Organisation - CBSG-India)

Our immediate strategy is to complete the planned modules we currently have in train, finalise the development and implement the information holding software and to continue to actively attract further subscribers, particularly from the institutional sector; a complete list of our current institutional subscribers is attached to this report. It will be another hard but rewarding year as we see the increase in subscribers and the real dissemination of information on the natural history, health and management of wild animals becoming a reality, which is the Mission of the Charity.

International Conferences and Meetings attended:
WIN had a representative(s) at the following meetings:

• Oil Spill Response Conference, North Carolina, USA
• Community Wildlife Management Meeting, Cambridge, UK
• Avian 2000 Meeting, Blackbrook, UK
• British Veterinary Zoological Society - Spring Meeting, Cotswold, UK
• Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland - Annual Conference and AGM, Norwich, UK
• European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians, Paris, France
• Wildlife Disease Association, Wyoming, USA
• FarmAfrica - AGM, London, UK
• American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, New Orleans, USA
• British Veterinary Association - Exotic Pets Seminar Day, Chester, UK
• British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council meeting, London, UK
• Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Palm Desert, USA
• Interspill 2000, Brighton, UK
• Oil Spill Responders meeting, Hastings, UK
• British Veterinary Zoological Society - Autumn Meeting, Potters Bar, UK

Our thanks and sincere appreciation go to Bridge House Estates Trust Fund of the Corporation of the City of London, British Airways Assisting Conservation, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Department for International Development, English Nature, Environment Agency, European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians, Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland, Great North Eastern Railway, Humane Society of the United States, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Marsh Christian Trust, National Wildlife Health Center, USGS (Department of the Interior), Olympus Optical Co (UK) Limited, The Royal Parks Agency, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Royal Veterinary College, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and World Association of Zoos and Aquaria for their generous support and contributions to WIN’s activities.

I thank our Patron, Board of Directors and Advisors for their guidance and advice throughout the year. As always, our Board have been exemplary in their support. To conclude, I think we at WIN can now look forward into the next millennium with a certain amount of excitement as our Website expands, as does our list of subscribers. I feel confident enough to forecast that, provided the level of interest is at least maintained as last year, we will see WIN becoming more than self-sustaining and able to re-invest in itself and its WILDPro programme; a real milestone in Wildlife Information Network's planned development.

Suzanne I Boardman BVMS MRCVS

September, 2001