MSc in Wild Animal Health

The MSc in Wild Animal Health is completed over one-year full time study, commencing in the
autumn. It is taught jointly by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and RVC and consists of three
distinct terms:

• Autumn term – Taught modules
• Spring term - Taught modules including practical module
• Summer term – Research Project

There are no part-time or distance learning options available.

Course timetable & modules

Introductory week

You will be introduced to the course objectives, the mission of the partner organisations running the course, and the services you can receive at the ZSL and the RVC.

Conservation Biology Module

You will develop a conceptual understanding of which species and populations are vulnerable to extinction, how we can monitor their population dynamics and how resources to conserve species can be allocated most successfully using a scientific approach.

Principles of Epidemiology and Surveillance 

This module introduces fundamental principles of epidemiology with particular focus on surveillance and risk assessment. These will be relevant to students on the MSc courses in Veterinary Epidemiology, One Health, Wild Animal Health and Wild Animal Biology. The teaching will focus on the theory and its application using a range of examples across species and sectors including wildlife, domestic animals and humans, hence it will be suitable for all courses. Students will be able to apply and build on the key principles taught in this module using course-specific examples in later modules within their respective courses.

Health and welfare of captive wild animals

Considering the enormous diversity of animal species, the management of healthy populations in captivity is an exacting challenge. In this module, you will gain a critical understanding of the principles of animal management and preventive medical approaches to maintaining healthy populations and enhance their welfare.

Interventions Module

Where anthropogenic threats endanger free-living populations of animals, people increasingly see a need to intervene for the conservation or welfare of these populations. However, given the need to understand complex ecological systems, the disease risks of manipulating them and the potential stress of intervention methods, such activities require detailed planning, highly skilled input and scientific evaluation to ensure lessons are learned. Using real examples this module will help you to develop a conceptual understanding of intervention methods.

Detection, surveillance and emerging diseases

Morbidity and mortality in free-living populations of wild animals are difficult to detect and monitor given ecosystem processes and the bias of convenience sampling strategies. In this module, you will learn about the complex methods required to detect and monitor changes in endemic diseases, detect emergent diseases, and interpret the findings in a scientific manner.

Ecosystem Health Module

Ecosystem health is a rapidly advancing field of scientific inquiry, which will be studied in the context of the health and sustainable utilization of ocean and freshwater fauna.

Evaluation of the health and welfare of captive wild animals

In this module, we investigate the scientific evaluation of wild animal welfare and critically analyse the relationship of health with both reproduction and nutrition.

Practical Module

This module covers the complex set of skills required to effectively maintain healthy captive populations of wild animals, and to monitor and intervene in the health of free-living populations. You will gain a conceptual and practical understanding of critical aspects of remote tracking, monitoring of free-living wild animals, pharmacology, anaesthesia, pathology, dentistry, and imaging in wild animals.

Research Planning

In your research planning module, you will develop the extensive skills required to design and conduct practical research projects, critically appraise and review the literature, deliver effective scientific presentations, and write scientific papers suitable for submission to peer-reviewed journals. This will aid you in the completion of your required research projects, conducted between May and mid-August.

Each MSc student undertakes an individual research project, between May and the middle of August, producing a grant application and a scientific paper suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.

A conference is held in September where each student gives a presentation on their research findings.  Over 100 scientific publications have resulted from research projects undertaken by MSc WAH and WAB students. The project will encompass a practical study on an approved aspect of wild animal biology.

The research project provides the opportunity to study a topic suited to the student’s desired career. A wide variety of topic areas have been chosen including projects in welfare, behaviour, infectious diseases, reproduction, nutrition, rehabilitation and management of both captive and free-living wild animals.

The project may be undertaken at any place approved by the Zoological Society of London/Royal Veterinary College with the guidance of a course supervisor. 

You will be assessed by a mixture of coursework, written exams, an individual research project report and an oral examination. All candidates will undertake a full assessment irrespective of their performance in other parts of the course.

We invite applications from candidates with a first or second class honours degree from a recognised veterinary school and at least one year of postgraduate veterinary experience.

We are keen to see evidence of relevant work experience in a zoo, wildlife rehabilitation centre or wildlife hospital.

Graduates of the MSc Wild Animal Health are, unfortunately, not eligible to apply for either of the European College of Zoological Medicine residencies offered by ZSL/RVC (Zoo Health Management or Wildlife Population Health).  This position is the result of the way these positions are funded and UK government tax rules.

English Requirements

If English is not your first language you will need to provide evidence of proficiency in spoken and written English, including scientific usage and comprehension. You will be required to achieve an overall score of 7.0 in IELTS with a minimum of 6.5.

The Graduate School
The Royal Veterinary College
Royal College Street
London NW1 0TU
United Kingdom

Email: researchdegrees@rvc.ac.uk
Tel : +44 (0) 20 7468 5134

Our graduates have gone on to work with both captive and free-living wild animals as clinicians, pathologists, epidemiologists, academics and senior management in zoological collections, national parks, universities and government departments worldwide. Others continue to work towards a PhD or DVetMed, either with ZSL, the RVC or at other leading research institutes. 

Marcus Clauss

After studying veterinary medicine, Marcus Clauss did the MSc course in Wild Animal Health. The MSc research project on the feeding and digestive physiology of captive giraffe got him into contact with his next employer, the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany.

His next research was in the field of nondomestic herbivore nutrition, working on moose, black and greater one-horned rhino, hippos and various ruminant species.

He did a 5-year postdoc period at the Institute of Animal Physiology, Physiological Chemistry and Animal Nutrition at the University of Munich, before he found tenure as the Head of Research at the Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife at the University of Zurich.

He is actively involved in graduate and postgraduate education (and also teaches on the MSc WAH nowadays), has supervised a large number of MSc and PhD theses, and continued his research in the area of digestive physiology, anatomy and nutrition of various herbivores, omnivores and carnivores; he has since worked on topics from life history, husbandry and zoo management. 

Céline Le Rochais, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada

"The MSc Wild Animal Health has been a very enriching experience, both from human and professional perspective. It was the opportunity to broaden my knowledge in wild animal medicine and increase my awareness on conservation issues. I am now enrolled in a wildlife medicine residency in Canada. I am convinced the MSc gave me the necessary background to reach that position, and will help me in the future to achieve the ACZM board certification."

Dr. Khyne U Mar BVS, MSc, MPhil, PhD, FRVCS

"I have been previously employed by the Myanma Timber Enterprise, Ministry of Forestry as the Head of Elephant Section, Extraction Department.

I attended MSc (Wild Animal Health) Course in 2000. The course gave me the opportunity to pursue PhD programme which reflects my own unique interests in Asian elephant ecology and population demography.

After finishing my PhD in 2007, I worked as the Asian Elephant Consultant in SE Asian countries and in zoological collections in UK. Currently I work in the position of Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK.

I am taking the role of Project Co-ordinator of Myanmar Elephant Research Project. I co-supervise PhD and MSc projects with Dr, Virpi Lummaa (Reader in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Sheffield). I oversee research activities in Myanmar and liaise between International scientists and the Myanmar Government. Our research group aims to determine factors affecting health, fertility and mortality rates in the captive elephants of Myanmar and devising strategies to improve them."

Richard D Suu-ire

"Following my completion of the MSc in Wild Animal Health in 2006, I was appointed as a wildlife veterinary epidemiologist. I actively participated in the control of many diseases including the Avian Influenza outbreak in Ghana in April 2007, and am Unit Head of the Wildlife Surveillance Unit of the European Union Avian Influenza Project in Ghana and a member of the Avian Influenza Ghana National Working Group.

I have worked closely with a range of leading international research institutions and organizations, such as WHO, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), and I am currently collaborating with the Institute of Zoology (ZSL), Animal Health laboratory Agency and the Cambridge University (UK). This collaboration focuses on viral zoonoses of fruit bats; the findings of this have been published in leading international journals and presented at international scientific fora.

I am also a PhD student at the University of Ghana with affiliation with the Institute of zoology. I am the Immediate past president of the Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA), and currently the first vice president. The MSc in Wild Animal Health has been very helpful in shaping my career."

Claudio Soto-Azat, MV, MSc, PhD, Universidad Andres Bello, Chile

"I have been involved in animal conservation since 2004 when I became veterinary surgeon in Chile. In 2006/7 I followed my MSc studies in Wild Animal Health and since then I have continued being linked with ZSL through my PhD in Conservation Medicine and the EDGE Programme.

The MSc in Wild Animal Health is one of the most important experiences in my life. Professionally, I developed in the areas of wildlife medicine, wildlife population health and conservation, but personally I also made excellent friends from all over the world and I growth as a person. Today, I am academic and researcher at the Faculty of Ecology and Natural Resources, Universidad Andres Bello, Chile, and always I have felt deeply grateful from the MSc programme."

Rea Tschopp, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ethiopia and Swiss Tropical Institute

"Following the completion of my MSc in Wild Animal Health in 2003 I worked as a wildlife veterinarian for 2 years before starting a PhD in Epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, investigating Bovine tuberculosis at the human-livestock-wildlife interface in Ethiopia.

I am currently a research team leader in Zoonosis/One-Health where wildlife and ecosystem health play a big role. Besides being a researcher, I also continue to work as a practicing wildlife veterinarian in Ethiopia as well as lecturing wildlife medicine, and epidemiology at several veterinary faculties at under-and postgraduate levels. The MSc program was without doubt the most important stepping stone in my career."

"Pursuing a Masters in Wild Animal Health was a dream come through and one of the best experiences. This course gave me a chance to be lectured and work alongside Veterinarians that wrote the wildlife textbooks that I studied from. It broadened my knowledge on wildlife medicine and management and welfare of wildlife. It also stimulated my interest in conservation and emerging diseases. The practical component was my favourite as we were on rotations at well-established Zoos. It was a great opportunity to network with people from around the world and build a rapport. I am still in contact with my colleagues and contact them when I need a consult. I am sure this masters will help me advance in my career, as I am now the first qualified Wildlife Veterinarian in my home country of Trinidad." - Naveena Baboolal

"The MSc course was a brilliant opportunity to get exposure to a large number of specialists - their knowledge but also their various fascinating characters. The resources of the IoZ and the course modules allowed me to delve into so many topics of zoo animal biology and management that I still profit from today. Most of all, the quest for my own MSc topic, and the planning and performing of the experiments and labwork, were a forming experience that made me feel I can achieve a lot if I just set my energy to it, and the drive and confidence I gained at the time is still with me when I plan new projects today. The MSc course gave my body and soul an arena in which to act out the dreams I had at the time, which laid out - without me knowing - the path to my professional future." - Marcus Clauss

"​The special design of this MSc course encouraged me to seek answers by myself and through the discussions with the colleagues who have different academic backgrounds and perspectives. Also, the lecturers are the real experts working on various fields, from animal welfare to veterinary medicine, from captive wildlife management to field research, they equipped me with extensive theoretical knowledge and practical skills in both in-situ conservation and ex-situ wildlife management. The most attractive part of the course was to develop my own research based on my interests. I travelled to Yunnan, China to study the human-elephant conflict issue which was a valuable experience and provided a good starting point for my future career in China." - Michael Hui

"The Masters in Wild Animal Health was a fantastic introduction into the conservation science arena. The course gave us a firm grounding in the basic tools needed for a role in conservation, with a diverse range of speakers providing lectures in their specialist fields, ranging from statistics and virology through to practical classes on remote capture techniques and cetacean rescue. For those interested in a job in conservation, or who just want to discover more about this rapidly emerging field of science, I would highly recommend this course." - Hugo Richardson

"The MSc course in Wild Animal Health was memorable in more ways than one. Personally, it encouraged me to ask critical questions and seek answers, and fit well with my nature to learn by myself. The course gives great emphasis on the diseases and treatment of wildlife from a unique eco-system and conservation medicine perspective, something that is invaluable in today’s changing wildlife conservation scenario. The chance to work with excellent wildlife veterinarians and biologists at one of the premier wildlife conservation societies in the world is also an experience not to be missed. I made great friends and some relationships that will last a lifetime. All in all, this MSc. course brilliantly encapsulates the exceedingly vast field of wildlife and conservation medicine in a short period of one year, and is highly recommended for anyone looking to get into this field." - Sreejith Radhakrishnan, Assistant Forest Veterinary Officer, Periyar Tiger Reserve, India

"The MSc Wild Animal Health not only give me knowledge on wildlife veterinary medicine but also open my mind to the conservation aspect, which is very important currently. It’s been also a great opportunity to learn and work with a famous institution like ZSL, IoZ or RVC. Even now I’m back to work at my home country, I still contact my friends and colleagues over there. This course is one of the best experiences in my life." - Supaphen Sripiboon, Kasetsart University, Thailand