Vivarium assistants

For the next couple of weeks I will be back in Costa Rica, where I’ll be spending some time in the central highlands and also down on the Caribbean coast. Here I plan to visit a range of different animal conservation centres which I hope to report back to you about via the blog. So, while I am out there, if there is [...]

Denmark and Sweden Visits!

Today I must make a special entry to highlight some of the places I visited whilst in Denmark and Sweden over the past week, and to say a special thanks to the people I have met. Firstly, I would really like thank Søren Werther for kindly inviting me to Denmark in the first instance and I hope my contribution [...]

Fire-bellied Toad conservation

Today I met Lene Rasmussen, a really committed Danish amphibian conservationist. She is heading a conservation initiative for Fire-bellied Toads (Bombina bombina) on behalf of Copenhagen Zoo, which includes raising tadpoles in captivity at the Zoo and then releasing the young into original habitat. Working with colleagues, she has reared and released over 1000 of [...]

Rainforest Exhibition at Copenhagen Museum

Today I visited a really wonderful exhibition at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen that focuses on several tribes of indians from Venezuela. It was absolutely brilliant to see the way they had integrated the objects with the back-lit graphic panels and other visual, audio, and super interactive displays, it was a sensory feast! [...]

Visit to Scandinavia

For the next week or so I will be in Scandinavia, visiting Denmark to lecture at an amphibian meeting at the University of Copenhagen, and also travelling to the wonderful Norden’s Ark in Sweden to discuss amphibian conservation. I hope to report back directly via video on our ‘Live’ page,  so anyone who might like see or [...]

Valley School visit

I just wanted to mention a word or two about a wonderful teaching session that’s taken place at the museum, it was brilliant. We had children visit us again from Valley School in Stockport, which is a special school for children with severe and complex learning and physical dificulties. Having different activities tailored to meet their individual  needs, the children really seemed to get alot from [...]

Moston Steps Programme

During the past month we have become involved with Moston Steps, a complimentary education programme for young people who are not in mainstream education. I was approached by Andrea Winn, our Curator of community exhibitions, who, together with our Rebecca Machin, are helping support a group of young people to produce their own exhibition. The idea is that whilst developing many [...]

A-Level study days

I have just heard news from Louise Sutherland, our super enthusiastic Curator of Learning (Secondary and Post-16), that due to the massive amount of interest in our newest A-Level offering, ‘Frogs and Physics’, it is to be extended. The sessions, developed in collaboration with Louise and also Dr Mark Dickinson, are now fully booked. However, the decision means many other schools interested in booking the free sessions [...]

Stop Press! Fijian Iguana exclusive footage!

We have just witnessed a most amazing scene at the Manchester Museum - our rare Fijian Iguana has just laid 4 large eggs right in front of our very eyes!  We knew she was nearly ready for laying, and so had taken her off display several weeks ago in preparation, but to be able to catch the very moment she is laying her eggs [...]

Chameleon competition winners!

Due to the number of super entries for our ‘Name the Chameleon’ Competition it has been extremely difficult choosing a winner. However, after much deliberation we considered that the name ‘Rainbow’ would most suit our beautiful lizard.  Our overall winner is Harry Ovey, aged 13, from London, who, as well as coming up with the winning name, also provided a great description of why Chameleons are so special. [...]