And is more than happy to share his rhinocerouses, tigers and elephants with others on his course. As the director of wildlife at a safari park, there’s not much he doesn’t know about caring for newborn lions or coping with a foot and mouth outbreak, but going back into education after 35 years was a real challenge - for his teachers as well as him.
“The students were a bit wary of me at first,” Bob, 57, says. “So were the lecturers. I’ve been doing this job since before some of them were born.”
But despite this vast experience, he feels that he still has a lot to learn. He had always encouraged his staff to study and, despite having been out of education for 35 years, thought it was about time he set an example. “Your learning curve never levels out,” he says. “It has been a real eye-opener. It has helped me to see my vocation in an entirely new perspective and opened up new horizons. I wish I could study the course full-time.”
When Bob isn’t studying part-time for his BSc, he is managing elephants, lions, rhino and a staff of 60 people at West Midlands Safari Park. He invites other students to the park to get first-hand experience such as feeding the tigers and the camels.
Would he consider further study after his BSc? “I wouldn’t mind going further into conservation,” he says. And retirement? “It’s never entered my head.”
Nominated by Sarah Bottom, Nottingham Trent University.
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