Zoo Science and Wildlife Conservation

If you’re fascinated by animals, passionate about conservation, and eager to make a real difference in the natural world, then a Zoo Science and Wildlife Conservation course at Hopwood Hall could be the perfect path for you.

These routes have been carefully designed to help you develop the practical skills, knowledge and confidence needed to work with animals and support conservation efforts both in captivity and in the wild.

As threats to wildlife and biodiversity grow, studying Zoo Science and Wildlife Conservation is more crucial than ever. Our unique campus is nestled within more than 70 acres of ancient woodland in Middleton, Greater Manchester—an ideal environment for learning about and interacting with nature.

Here, you’ll gain hands-on experience working with rare, endangered, and even ICUN red-listed species, including the Keeled Box Turtle (Cuora mahoutii), which is the only captive population in the UK, the critically endangered Vietnamese Pond Turtle (Mauremys annamensis), and the Bali Myna (Leucopsar rothschildi), an incredibly rare bird species that is now extinct in the wild. 

Our students work directly with over 500 animals, including endangered and vulnerable species, such as the Parma Wallaby (Notamacropus parma), one of the smallest wallabies, and Blue-legged Mantellas (Mantella expectata) from Madagascar. Every day presents a new learning experience—whether you’re helping feed alpacas in outdoor enclosures, working with rare reptiles in our Tropical House, or gaining insights into unique species like the Long-eared Hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus), a desert-adapted mammal, or the Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec (Echinops telfairi), which is surprisingly more closely related to elephants than to hedgehogs!

Our programme includes diverse, impactful learning experiences, from local partnerships with the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit to international conservation efforts. For example, students have the opportunity to join the Sea Turtle Conservation Project in Kefalonia, Greece, where they’ll help protect loggerhead and green turtles through hands-on activities like seabed surveying and coastal habitat monitoring.

You can also engage in a breeding project for the endangered Blue-legged Mantella, in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). These unique experiences help you build practical skills while making a real difference.