Animal Management

Life Sciences offer so many career options - including some you might not have even thought of before. We are constantly investing and improving the facilities and teaching environments for our learners so they can have the best hands-on experience possible. This gives you the best preparation for your future career.

Our Animal Management courses take advantage of classrooms, indoor enclosures and a huge outdoor space with a variety of animals. You will complete theoretical and practical lessons, learning how to handle and care for a diverse range of animals under the careful eyes of expert staff. These practical hours contribute to the overall award and the first-hand experience is vital to life after college. Here at Hopwood Hall, in our animal centre, we are committed to conservation – both in our exotic and domestic collections. We are working with International, and European, breeding programmes for our exotic animals, and Rare Breed Survival Trust for some domestic breeds. We go above and beyond in terms of the species, and breeds, that we look after which are of conservation concern – rivalling many zoological collections in terms of the sheer number of breeding programmes we are committed to – including playing host to endangered box turtles, golden mantella frogs and the Edwards pheasant – which is in fact extinct in the wild, in its native Vietnam!

While the outdoor spaces house a vast number of animals, you can also choose to study Horticulture and learn about landscaping, gardening, aquaponics and more. With a huge amount of land to work with and big plans for the future, you'll be vital to transforming the environment for students and animals alike - and you'd be amazed at the careers available.

Meet the lecturers

Harry Gill: Harry is both a Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Master of Science (MSc). He has been heavily involved with industry research and is experienced in supervising projects, with his favoured areas of research being in anatomy and behaviour.

Harry has three years of zoo keeping experience with all taxa. This is extensively with mammals, however, he also has experience with reptiles, birds, fish and invertebrates. He is experienced in providing daily care to endangered and, in some cases, critically endangered species.

In addition he has acquired specialist knowledge in husbandry training of large mammals such as elephants, tigers and giraffes. Harry is highly experienced in using practical skills such as animal husbandry, administering basic zoo veterinary treatments, hand rearing, animal handling and creating enrichment.

Harry has two years of zoological management experience, acquiring a wide set of skills and knowledge pertaining to; enclosure design, collection planning, designing conservation initiatives, supervising research, organising animal transports and aiding studbook management.

Emma Hibbert: Emma has a Post Graduate Certificate in Education and has managerial experience in a large pet retail environment where she was a small animal advisor. During this time, she also completed training and gained experience working with birds, fish and exotic animals.

Emma is qualified in dog first aid and dog walking. She is an AMTRA C-SQP, and is trained in small animal microchipping. Emma has had a lifetime of working with companion animals, including her families farm animals and pets alike.

Emma has worked at Hopwood Hall since 2020, and in this time has worked as a progress tutor, instructor and lecturer. She has therefore acquired both classroom and practical based skills such as animal handling, health checking, grooming and administering medication.

Emma Clear: Emma received a First-class Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Wildlife Conservation and Zoo biology from the University of Salford, and a Master of Science (MSc) in Animal Behaviour from Manchester Metropolitan University.

She has continued into scientific research through her ongoing PhD with MMU looking at reproductive anatomy and behaviours in mammals, using skills such as dissections, x-ray imaging, and movement tracking. She has presented her research at international conferences and to students around the country, and believes good communication, networking, and using your creativity are vital to studying science.

Emma has also been working as a zoo keeper at a small facility in the north west since 2016 and continues to work at the zoo on a part-time basis. As a staff member at a small zoo Emma has experience working with a range of species and is skilled in many different aspects of zoo life; animal husbandry, diet planning, enclosure design, enrichment building, and basic veterinary care.

Along with this, she has extensive experience supervising student volunteers during their work experience placements and assisting student-led projects from college to Masters degree level.

Animal Management