Andrew Greenwood

A few years after qualifying as a vet, Andrew formed the UK based International Zoo Veterinary Group (IZVG) to provide freelance veterinary services across the world.

He is an internationally recognised expert in conservation medicine, bird diseases and marine mammal care and sits on many committees as an expert. As well as providing expertise to policy formers and to captive endangered species across the world, Andrew has been a long term veterinary advisor to conservation projects worldwide, including the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.

Andrew has a particular interest in island birds and reptiles where disease can be catastrophic to whole species. In addition to being the go-to expert for WVI's work in Mauritius and the Seychelles, Andrew is currently Company Secretary to WVI and plays an active part in the day to day running of the charity.

Steve Leonard

Steve qualified from Bristol Vet School in 1996. Since then he has combined regular domestic veterinary work in the UK with filming wildlife documentaries for the BBC, ITV and Animal Planet. Although Steve’s regular veterinary work is with domestic pets he has extensive experience working with wildlife alongside many leaders in the field.

Steve’s knowledge of domestic dog disease and injuries together with his ability to castrate a dog on a table under a tree meant he was the perfect person to be the onsite WVI vet during the mobile vaccination and minor injuries clinics in Zimbabwe. The aim of these clinics is to reduce the disease in an area where endangered African painted wolves frequently come into contact with domestic dogs.

As patron of both WVI and Painted Dog Conservation, our partners on the ground, Steve is developing a joint programme that will not only help the painted wolves but increase the welfare and health of domestic dogs and people in the area.

Dr John Lewis

John graduated from Cambridge University Veterinary School and went on to do a PhD in Oncology at the University of London. Working for the International Zoo Veterinary Group (IZVG), John undertook clinical work at Al Ain Zoo (UAE), Howletts and Port Lympne Zoos, and ZSL London Zoo before becoming an IZVG partner in 1988. Having been a full-time zoo and wildlife vet for the past 29 years, he has worked in a variety of zoo and field situations in an equally wide variety of countries.

With principle interests in large cat conservation and their care in captivity, anaesthesia of non-domestic species and the veterinary support of in situ endangered species conservation programmes, John has developed ground breaking techniques.

John is a member of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, is the principal veterinary advisor to the Amur leopard and tiger Endangered Species Breeding Programmes (EEP's), and is engaged with a range of felid and primate field conservation programmes. John is a trustee of the UK based charity AMUR and widely published on veterinary aspects of non-domestic medicine.

John Lewis is a founder and veterinary advisor of WVI. He is recognised internationally for his work on carnivore reintroduction techniques and the development of veterinary resource manuals for in situ conservation projects.

A ten minute interview with John Lewis can be seen here.

Dr. Tom Ogilvie-Graham

Brigadier Ogilvie-Graham MBE commanded the Royal Army Veterinary Corps until 2011 and held the title of Queens Honorary Veterinary Surgeon. His resourceful nature, together with extensive experience of dogs in all environments (both geographical and political) made him the ideal candidate to lead the Painted Dog Health Project in Zimbabwe in 2010.

Weeks before he was due to leave, there was a canine distemper virus outbreak in the local domestic dog population. With potentially catastrophic effects on painted wolves, Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) were able to organise a series of domestic dog vaccination and minor injury clinics and Tom left the UK armed with 100s of doses parasite treatment and vaccine.

Under the guidance of Tom and Steve Leonard, our partner PDC runs mobile clinics every two years, usually vaccinating around 900 dogs. Meanwhile,  permanent clinic in PDC’s rehabilitation centre is becoming better equipped, with growing capacity to support research intiatives.

Johanna Storm

A graduate of the Veterinary School of Giessen University, Germany, Johanna was formerly Technical Director of the Madrid Zoo and resident vet at Loro Parque, Tenerife before joining the International Zoo Veterinary Group in the UK.

Johanna now runs the International Zoo Veterinary Group’s first opinion and referral avian and exotic pet clinic in Hipperholme, near Halifax, Yorkshire. Johanna also sees animals from zoological and birds of prey collections.

Johanna is an expert avian surgeon and is reguarly sponsored by WVI to provide training and support to vets involved with patching up birds of prey and waterbird species, some of them highly endangered. She has been instrumental in providing assistance to birds injured during the International Kite Festical Project which is held in Ahmedabad in India every January. The injuries incurred often include partially severed wings as a result of birds getting caught up in glass-coated 'cutting' kite strings used during the annual festival.

Dr Alexandra Tomlinson

Alex qualified in 1992 from Cambridge University Veterinary School. Following seven years in general practice, she worked for a short while in Defra followed by three years of teaching animal science. Alex first entered the world of wildlife health by undertaking the MSc in Wild Animal Health at the Royal Veterinary College/Institute of Zoology.

Her interest in wildlife continued with a year spent in Cornwall developing wildlife pathology skills under the watchful eye of Vic Simpson. From there Alex went on to spend seven fulfilling years working at Woodchester Park in Gloucestershire on the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in badgers, where she also completed her PhD. Alex is now self-employed, working on a variety of wildlife-health and sustainable farming issues.

On behalf of WVI Alex is currently working on the disease risk assessment for the Amur Leopard re-introduction programme.

Matthew Rendle

A qualified Veterinary Nurse for more than 25 years, Matt has a particular interest in the care and welfare of exotic species, both in captivity and in the wild. Having started his career in 1989 at the Park Veterinary Centre in Watford, where he worked while completing his initial qualification, he moved to the Zoological Society of London (London Zoo) in 2003 in order to pursue his interest in zoo and wildlife nursing.  He was promoted to senior clinical nurse at ZSL in 2012, a position he held until 2017. He is now head nurse for exotics referrals at Holly House Veterinary Hospital in Leeds.

In addition to his day job, Matt is the vice chair of the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council and founding member of the Association of Zoo and Exotic Veterinary Nurses (AZEVN), which aims to provide affordable continuing professional development to nurses working with zoo, exotic and wildlife species. Having authored and co-authored paper son subjects as diverse as the radiography of elephants’ feet and the little known world of caecilians, he also lectures regularly to nurses and vets on various aspects of veterinary care of exotic species, including breeding and care of reptiles and amphibians, diagnostic imaging and aspects of exotic anaesthesia.

Matt is one of the first of two nurses to be appointed as a ‘Bandaging Angel’ for exotics with the Veterinary Wound Library, a resource which allows veterinary professionals to access expert help to promote wound healing in a wide range of species. His expertise in this area has been of great use in his annual trips to the Uttarayan kite-flying festival in western India, where WVI’s support has enabled him to assist local conservation workers and volunteers in providing emergency and critical care to the thousands of birds injured each year by kite strings during the celebrations. Matt firmly believes that education and training are key to conservation success, and finds it very rewarding to know that the new techniques he teaches, as well as the updated protocols he is able to instigate to improve the care given to the birds, continue to be implemented long after he leaves the country.

Tania Monreal Pawlowsky

Having graduated in veterinary medicine from the Universidad Autonoma of Barcelona in 1998, Tania is a specialist inthe care, rehabilitation and conservation of marine and aquatic animals. After leaving university she spent four years travelling around the world, working in zoos and with conservation projects in Greece, Finland, Argentina, Mexico and the United States, as well as with a whale watching and photo-ID project in Norway. In 2000, Tania started working as a vet for the Spanish water park and aquarium organisation, Aspro Ocio, becoming Technical Director by 2006. This was followed by a number of years dividing her time between the post of Curator of Aquatic Animals at Barcelona Zoo and work for the International Zoo Veterinary Group (IZVG).  

Since 2015 Tania has worked full time for IZVG from her base in Spain. She is Chair of the European Association for Aquatic Mammals Veterinary and Accreditation Committee, as well as an inspector for the organisation. In addition, she is a member of the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine, the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians and the British Veterinary Association. She is veterinary advisor to EAZA’s Elasmobranch* Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) as well as a member of the Marine Mammal TAG. 

Tania also trains vets in sea turtle medicine and handling. Recent projects include running a sea turtle rehabilitation course for the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece. WVI supports Tania’s ongoing work with CRAM – the Foundation for the Conservation and Rehabilitation of Marine Animals – which is based in Barcelona and specialises in turtle, dolphin and seabird rescue and conservation.   

* A subclass of cartilaginous fishes that includes sharks, rays and skates.

Dr Jessica Bodgener

Jess qualified as a vet from Glasgow University Veterinary School in 2008. Following several years in general practice, she undertook an MSc in Wild Animal Health at the Royal Veterinary College in London. Since completing her masters, Jess has been involved in a wide variety of research, much of which has centred around the issue of canine distemper virus and its potential impact on wild tiger populations.

Most recently, she has been working alongside Dr Martin Gilbert of Cornell University and Dr Amir Sadaula of the National Trust of Nature Conservation, in efforts to strengthen wildlife medicine capacity in Nepal. Jess is currently developing a project which will assess the health of‘conflict’ leopards around Chitwan National Park, with the intention of better understanding whether disease or injury may be among the factors bringing the animals into close contact with humans, and what can be done to improve the situation for all concerned.  

Jess is also a contributor to the Wild Tiger Health Centre, having authored the sections on Conflict Tigers and Covid, and co-authored the section on canine distemper virus.

Dr Nic Masters

A graduate of Cambridge University Veterinary School, Nic also holds an MSc in Wild Animal Health from the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology. He worked for the International Zoo Veterinary Group in a wide variety of European zoos and aquariums, before joining the Zoological Society of London where he worked initially on Species Recovery programmes involving the translocation of threatened UK wildlife, before becoming the Veterinary Officer for Whipsnade Zoo. 

A period of freelancing in the UK and abroad followed, a particular highlight of which was working as a locum at Auckland Zoo’s Centre for Conservation Medicine in New Zealand. He returned to the Zoological Society of London as Head of Veterinary Services in 2012, becoming Interim Director of Living Collections six years later. In 2019 he was appointed Assistant Director of Wildlife Health Services, and worked on developing wildlife health as a theme underpinning much of the organisation’s work. 
‍
Nic has now returned to work with the International Zoo Veterinary Group. He is currently an Honorary Lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College and Veterinary Advisor to the Asiatic lion Endangered Species Breeding Programme, having also been on the Council of BIAZA and the British Veterinary Zoological Society, chair of the UK’s Elephant Welfare Group, and a government zoo inspector.

Jane Hopper

Jane graduated from Cambridge University Veterinary School in 2002, and has been head of the Veterinary Department of the Aspinall Foundation in the UK since 2006. In this role, Jane leads and manages all veterinary activities for the Aspinall Foundation’s conservation projects worldwide. Her work includes responsibility for veterinary care at two of Europe’s largest zoological collections – Howletts and Port Lympne parks in the UK – as well as overseeing the veterinary aspects of the organisation’s overseas conservation projects in West Africa, Indonesia and Madagascar.

Jane has extensive experience in all aspects of husbandry, medicine and surgery for a wide range of wild animal species, as well as in disease risk assessment analysis for mammalian release projects and field veterinary techniques relevant to a range of overseas programmes. In addition, she is a veterinary advisor to the European Felid Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) and a veterinary co-advisor to the European Amur leopard and tiger Endangered Species Breeding Programmes (EEPs).  Jane’s expertise is invaluable in her role as a veterinary advisor to WVI.

Karen Archer

Karen graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2007, having also completed a degree in Veterinary Conservation Medicine in 2005. She spent the following 10 years in mixed practice whilst also providing veterinary care to three North West zoological collections and seeing first opinion pet exotic cases. In 2017 she joined the International Zoo Veterinary Group and is the primary vet for over fifteen zoos across the UK.  

Due to her established mixed practice background and extensive zoo experience Karen is a good ‘all rounder’ and can apply her skills in domestic and zoo animal medicine, surgery and anaesthesia to a broad range of wild species. She has a particular passion for large mammal anaesthesia and a real interest in all things primate

Karen is an RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Zoological Medicine. She is also a member of the British Veterinary Zoological Society and the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians.

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The veterinary professionals we work with have specific skills and experience suited to the needs of the particular species targeted by our conservation partners.

You can read more below about some of the people whose expertise has helped save endangered species.

Andrew Greenwood

A few years after qualifying as a vet, Andrew formed the UK based International Zoo Veterinary Group to provide freelance veterinary services across the world.

Read biography

Dr Alexandra Tomlinson

Alex qualified in 1992 from Cambridge University Veterinary School. Following seven years in general practice, she worked for a short while in Defra followed by three years of teaching animal science.

Read biography

Johanna Storm

A graduate of the Veterinary School of Giessen University, Germany, Johanna was formerly Technical Director of the Madrid Zoo and resident vet at Loro Parque, Tenerife before...

Read biography

Karen Archer

Karen graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2007, having also completed a degree in Veterinary Conservation Medicine in 2005.

Read biography

Jane Hopper

Jane graduated from Cambridge University Veterinary School in 2002, and has been head of the Veterinary Department of the Aspinall Foundation in the UK since 2006.

Read biography

Matthew Rendle

A qualified Veterinary Nurse for more than 25 years, Matt has a particular interest in the care and welfare of exotic species, both in captivity and in the wild.

Read biography

Tania Monreal Pawlowsky

Having graduated in veterinary medicine from the Universidad Autonoma of Barcelona in 1998, Tania is a specialist in the care, rehabilitation and conservation of marine and aquatic animals.

Read biography

Steve Leonard

Steve qualified from Bristol Vet School in 1996. Since then he has combined regular domestic veterinary work in the UK with filming wildlife documentaries for the BBC, ITV and Animal Planet.

Read biography

Dr Jessica Bodgener

Jess qualified as a vet from Glasgow University Veterinary School in 2008. Following several years in general practice, she undertook an MSc in Wild Animal Health at the Royal...

Read biography

Dr Nic Masters

A graduate of Cambridge University Veterinary School, Nic also holds an MSc in Wild Animal Health from the Zoological Society of London’s Institute of Zoology.

Read biography

Dr John Lewis

John graduated from Cambridge University Veterinary School and went on to do a PhD in Oncology at the University of London. Working for the International Zoo Veterinary Group (IZVG), John undertook clinical work at Al Ain Zoo (UAE), Howletts and Port Lympne Zoos, and ZSL London Zoo before becoming an IZVG partner in 1988. Having been a full-time zoo and wildlife

Read more

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Posted on 22nd June 2017

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The Truth about Cats and Dogs: Canine Distemper in Big Cats in Nepal

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Posted on 22nd June 2017

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We are a small organisation with minimal administrative costs but access to top quality wildlife veterinary expertise across a wide range of different species.

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