Chief Executive's Report
Chief Executive's Report for the year ending Jan 2005
April 2005 will see the first anniversary of Wildlife Information Network (WIN) located within Twycross Zoo - East Midland Zoological Society. We have been made extremely welcome and have been pleased to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zoo where Wildpro is now a joint project. Over the recent months the Zoo has been undergoing in-depth strategic planning for the future and for the production of a Concept and Business Plan. Throughout the planning WIN and Wildpro Multimedia have been identified as key aspects to Twycross's Scientific and Educational development. We are delighted with the collaboration envisaged and will do everything we can to support Twycross as their strategy develops.
Our financial statements show a deficit, which at first glance appears disturbing. This is as a result of the accounting policies (Notes to the financial statements, page 12) that WIN adopts, where income is credited in the period where it is receivable. This means that the grant funding received in the 2003/04 year has not been carried forward. During 2004/05 WIN only received a limited amount of module funding as we had commitments in train for the forthcoming year. The perceived deficit has been off-set by the reserves built up from the previous year's revenue.
Last year I reported a need and a wish to research modules for the conservation and welfare organisations. I am very pleased to report that we have confirmed funding for two new modules that exactly answers that prerequisite and will bolster the reserves again. Research has commenced on Elephants: Diseases and Treatment and we are hoping to have that module at peer review stage in time for a launch at this year's World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) conference in October. After elephants we will address Bears: Health and Management. The new volumes will make an enormous impact on both of these captive and free-ranging species and will assist better understanding and management worldwide.
Meanwhile WIN continues researching and providing referenced scientific information to decision-makers worldwide. During the year we completed and added two new volumes to WIN's Electronic Encyclopaedia Wildlife: Disease Investigation and Management (Birds) and Hedgehogs: Health and Management. Both volumes have been very well received. Pain Management in Ruminants is also completed and is under peer-review, and expected to be released early in this current year. In addition to researching volumes, last November WIN was commissioned by the UK Government's independent scientific advisors, the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC), to provide an up to date comprehensive review of Chronic Wasting Disease in Deer and Elk. This was presented by Dr Debra Bourne to an open meeting hosted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and we were formally commended on the quality of the in-depth review.
We are aware that a volume on cranes would be very well received worldwide, and I am pro-actively seeking funding for this important species now. A noteworthy consideration is that our veterinary editor, Dr Bourne, has an enormous personal interest in cranes and it is very likely that this module could be completed remarkably quickly once the funding is secured!
Our collaborators continue to play a key role in the development of volumes, particularly Elephant Care International, a specialist Not-for-Profit organisation dedicated to the healthcare and conservation of elephants and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Colorado. I am pleased to report that our sponsors are very loyal and that core funding has been received from Balcombe Trust, Dennis Curry Charitable Trust and Marsh Christian Trust. We are very grateful for their invaluable and continued support.
Our membership is very similar to what I reported last year, in that Institutional organisations continue to renew, particularly the universities and higher education colleges which clearly demonstrates the value and importance of our detailed and heavily referenced information system. Individual renewals continue at a slow rate, although we continue to get two or three new members each month unsolicited off the Internet and there has been a noticeable demand for our new hedgehog module from veterinary nurses and veterinary practices.
Looking to the future, I am now convinced that WIN's Website should be open and freely available without password controlled access. It would mean that WIN's membership revenue would be severely reduced, but by the same token, our vast source of scientific information would be available to all corners of the globe without the need to have password access; places where information sources, libraries and texts are just not available. Open Access Publishing (OA) is the terminology for moving into the public domain, and it there that WIN must position itself. I am therefore actively seeking support for a three year project of core funding to allow us to open the WIN Website, launch a pro-active PR and Communications strategy aimed at the 1,700 plus veterinary and medical universities around the world, and secure financial sponsorships from pharmaceutical and other commercial companies once the Website 'hit rate' has reacted to the awareness campaign. Within three years I anticipate the Charity to be financially stable having achieved sustainability; and more, that our vision for improving standards of wildlife health and management through the provision of information can be realised.
And now to the other activities that WIN has undertaken during the year, with acknowledgements:
Conferences and Meetings attended:
41st International Symposium on the Diseases of Zoo and Wild Animals - Rome
Animal Health Information Systems - London
British Small Animal Veterinarians Association Congress 2003 - Birmingham
British Veterinary Zoological Society Autumn Meeting - Edinburgh
British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council - London
Combined Bird Taxon Advisory Groups Meeting - Colchester
Combined Small Mammal Taxon Advisory Groups Meeting - Blackpool
Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, SSC/IUCN - Costa Rica
Effects of Oil on Wildlife - Hamburg
Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland Annual Meeting and AGM - Newquay
Management of Infectious Diseases Workshop - ZSL (London)
North American Veterinary Conference - Florida
Royal Veterinary College Zoological Society Symposium - Potters Bar
UFAW Symposium - Science in the Service of Animal Welfare - Edinburgh
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums - Costa Rica
Zoos Forum Seminar - Sparsholt
Aviornis Council Meetings & AGM
Joint Management of Species Committee Meetings
Zoos Forum Meetings
Contributions to Publications and Conference Proceedings:
"The Changing Face of West Nile Virus" Debra Bourne & Suzanne I Boardman (41st International Symposium on the Diseases of Zoo and Wild Animals, Rome)
"Oiled Wildlife Response Resource for the River Thames" Debra Bourne & Suzanne I Boardman (Effects of Oil on Wildlife, Hamburg, Germany)
"Holes in the Head – TSEs in Non-Domestic Animals" Debra Bourne (British Veterinary Zoological Society Autumn Meeting, Edinburgh)
"20,000 Penguins and Other Oiled Birds" Debra Bourne (Royal Veterinary College Zoological Society Symposium, Potters Bar)
"Isaac Asimov, Wildlife Information and ZIMS" Suzanne I Boardman & Debra Bourne (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Costa Rica)
"Lead Poisoning" Debra Bourne - Aviornis International June 2003 - Vol 13.1.
"Worms and Worming Part 1” Debra Bourne - Aviornis International December 2003 - Vol 13.2
Lectures given by WIN:
"Darting: Remote Injection" Anaesthesia Elective Final Year Veterinary Students (Cambridge University Veterinary School)
"Disease and Mortality in Bennett's Wallabies at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park" and "Disease & Mortality in the Free-Ranging Mammals at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park": MSc Wild Animal Health / Wild Animal Biology (Zoological Society of London / The Royal Veterinary College)
"Handling, Physical and Chemical Restraint of Marsupials" and "Therapeutics and Preventative Medicine of Marsupials": MSc Wild Animal Health (Zoological Society of London / The Royal Veterinary College)
Special Thanks and Acknowledgements:
Our thanks and sincere appreciation go to Albuquerque Biological Park, Balcombe Trust, Bridge House Trust, Corporation of the City of London, British Airways, British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Dennis Curry Charitable Trust, Department for International Development, English Nature, Environment Agency, European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians, Great North Eastern Railway, Humane Society of the United States, HSBC Holdings plc, International Fund for Animal Welfare, International Media Services, Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Marsh Christian Trust, Mathew Eyton Animal Welfare Trust, Merial Animal Health Limited, North of England Zoological Society, USGS-National Wildlife Health Center (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, Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Twycross Zoo-East Midland Zoological Society, US Fish & Wildlife Service, USDA-National Wildlife Research Center, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, World Society for the Protection of Animals and The Zoological Society of London for their generous support and contributions to WIN's activities.
It only leaves me now to thank our Patron, Presidents, Board of Directors and Advisors to the Board for their guidance and advice throughout the year, and also the Council of Twycross Zoo - East Midland Zoological Society for their support and encouragement. I take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Brian Marsh, President of WIN, on being awarded the Order of the British Empire in this New Year's honours list. It is an award most justly deserved.
To conclude, WIN has had a very good year and is very happy in its new home. We continue to produce outstanding scientific modules that are acclaimed universally, and I reiterate that we have funding agreed to research further modules this year. And I am on a crusade to seek our "Holy Grail": that of Open Access Publishing.
Iain M W Boardman
Chief Executive
April, 2005