00:01Today we turn 200 years old. Not only are we celebrating everything that's come before over
00:08the 200 years but today is a big moment because we are announcing something brand new going forward.
00:14Today is the day that we get to announce a brand new wildlife health centre being built here right
00:20in the heart of London on our Regent's Park site. Here at ZSL for 200 years we have been protecting
00:26species and we've been restoring habitats. What we also have been doing is really treating animals
00:33and being at the forefront of understanding their health. What we know after 200 years of existence
00:38is that actually animal health, wildlife health is completely linked to human health and as a
00:45charity that's all about people and wildlife thriving together in this world now is the moment
00:50that we really need to be investing in wildlife health in order to help ourselves too. The new
00:5620 million pound wildlife health centre made possible with an anonymous donation that is the
01:03biggest in the conservation charity's now 200 year history will bring veterinary science to the public
01:12with the UK's first vet hospital viewing gallery for visitors. The centre will expand the existing work
01:20of the zoo in 1829 who saw the animals twice a week to the appointment of Britain's first dedicated zoo
01:32vet in 1929.
01:32The team has been working with the first visiting vet for the zoo in 1829 who saw the animals twice
01:44a week to the appointment of Britain's first dedicated zoo vet in 1929.
01:51And the creation of Europe's first purpose built zoo vet hospital still in use today at London Zoo.
01:58Something that's really important in wildlife health is teaching the next generation of wildlife conservationists.
02:04We do a lot of clinical research, we do a lot of student supervision for research projects, we do a
02:09lot of collaboration with many different scientists all over the world.
02:12The work that we do is really diverse but I think it's really important that globally we emphasise animal health
02:19right alongside human health.
02:21So I'm really excited about the wildlife health centre. It's going to be a fantastic opportunity to really let the
02:27public in and see what we do day to day and how veterinary medicine can contribute to care of animals
02:32in our zoo but also conservation outside of our zoos.
02:35We're really hoping that coming and visiting the wildlife health centre will inspire people to get into any aspect of
02:42veterinary medicine be that becoming a vet, becoming a veterinary nurse, getting into molecular biology or any of the other
02:49things that are involved in veterinary medicine in a conservation and wildlife setting.
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