Jack Walford

What is your favourite species to work with at the zoo and why?

I’d have to say our three capuchins Medellin, Carlos and Diablo. All three of them are very charismatic and it’s always interesting to watch them working out how to get food out of their enrichment. We often give them chilli’s to rub into their fur (something they do in the wild as a natural insect repellent) and it’s very entertaining to see them using their tails to rub the chill all over their bodies.  

Do you have a favourite conservation project or organisation to support?

Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC) are a charity who work across South America using primates as flagship species to conserve threatened ecosystems within the Amazon rainforest. They’ve done some really important work in creating protected forest areas and carrying out scientific research to improve our understanding of the Amazon rainforest and everything that lives there. They do lots of work with local communities to engage them in conservation and improve their livelihoods which is always an important step in successful conservation.  

If you could bring one species back from extinction what would it be? 

It would probably have to be the Tasmanian tiger. An animal that looked like a dog but was actually a marsupial with a pouch to carry its offspring. Very weird but very cool!

What animal at the zoo would you say has a personality most similar to yours and why? 

I’d have to say Alonso our white-nosed coati. Neither of us enjoy getting out of bed in the morning but get very excited when we see food on the way and love to explore and try new things. We’ve both got quite long noses too! 

What is your favourite thing about working at BPCZ?

My favourite thing about working at Battersea has to be the huge number of conservation projects the zoo is in involved in. Knowing that the animals I’m caring for on a day-to-day basis are contributing to the prevention of future species extinction is amazing and really rewarding. Our native British species are often forgotten about so Battersea’s work with harvest mice, the Scottish wildcat and native livestock breeds is something that makes the job really special.