Twycross Zoo Forms Strategic Partnership with Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Twycross Zoo have announced the launch of a strategic partnership which will drive their joint commitment to advancing teaching and learning, skills development, research and strategic business development in animal and veterinary sciences and conservation.

Twycross Zoo forms strategic partnership with Nottingham Trent University

The partnership will cement both parties’ commitment to developing collaborative opportunities in curriculum development and delivery, student placements and research projects, apprenticeships and recruitment, and securing essential regional funding opportunities.

The official signing of the partnership’s Memorandum of Understanding recently took place at Nottingham Trent University between Dr Sharon Redrobe OBE, CEO at Twycross Zoo and Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor of NTU.

Dr Sharon Redrobe said: “This is a really exciting partnership and an important milestone in Twycross Zoo’s masterplan. It allows us to formally outline our commitment to working closely with NTU as we strive to become a European Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation, with a leading centre in Ape conservation.”

Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, said: “The relationship between Twycross Zoo and Nottingham Trent University is one that has developed quickly and with great enthusiasm on both sides.

“This partnership will allow us to explore opportunities to work together, for the benefit of our students, Twycross Zoo, and the wider community of the East Midlands region. Twycross Zoo, a world primate centre, offers a unique proposition for collaboration across many subject areas from media, animal science, nutrition to project management, conservation and veterinary science.

“This relationship supports strongly the strategic aims of Nottingham Trent University in creating opportunity and enriching society. Over the coming months and years we will fully explore the extents of the collaboration which we expect to deliver significant value back into both organisations.”

Centrally located in the heart of England just off junction 11 of the M42, Twycross Zoo is open to the public from 10am to 6pm, 364 days a year. For further information and to book tickets visit www.twycrosszoo.org or call 0844 474 1777.

Notes for editors
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2017 at the Times Higher Education Awards, and Modern University of the Year in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

NTU has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.
NTU is one of the largest UK universities. With 30,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. It is one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly universities, containing some of the sector’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings. 96% of its graduates go on to employment or further education within six months of leaving.
Our student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 88% satisfaction score in the 2018 National Student Satisfaction Survey.

The University is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable Nottingham Trent to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

NTU is home to world-class research, and won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 – the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage; enable safer production of powdered infant formula; and combat food fraud.

With an international student population of over 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook.
About Twycross Zoo
- Twycross Zoo is a registered charity (501841) which exists to support conservation, education and research of some of the most endangered species on the planet.
- Set amongst the rural countryside in the heart of England, Twycross Zoo welcomes around 500,000 visitors a year to its 80-acre site in Leicestershire.
- Twycross Zoo is an award-winning conservation charity that funds and conducts scientific research and has an award-winning education and outreach programme.
- Now celebrating over 50 years of business, Twycross Zoo is one of the UK’s major zoos, caring for around 500 animals from over 125 species.
- Twycross Zoo is home to one of the largest primate collections in Europe and the only place in the UK, and one of four worldwide, where visitors can see all four types of Great Ape (gorilla, orang utan, chimpanzee and bonobo) as well as a wide collection of gibbons.
- Twycross Zoo is members of European and international organisations, including British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and The Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP).
- Underlying the important role of zoos in conservation, over 80% of babies born at Twycross Zoo in 2017 were from species that form part of the European Endangered Species Programmes (EEPs) & European Studbooks (ESB) breeding programmes.
- The zoo is leading the research into cardiovascular (heart) disease in great apes. The project is part of an EAZA Great Ape Taxon Advisory Group endorsed initiative, striving to develop a collaborative and co-operative approach to the investigation of cardiovascular disease among the European captive great ape population.
- In 2014, the Zoo launched its 20-year, £55million Masterplan. Since then, new habitats Giraffe Savannah and Gibbon Forest have opened to the public. Additional renovations and new exhibits include Lorikeet Landing, a Lemur walk-through and the Butterfly House, all of which offer visitors an immersive experience with the animals.
- Twycross Zoo’s Himalaya Centre offers a spacious 300 seat all-day restaurant with views overlooking a Himalayan landscape enclosure for snow leopards, corporate facilities, a gift shop and a soft play attraction and is open until 9pm on Fridays.
- For more information, visit: www.twycrosszoo.org