Rare award given to outstanding conservationist at Marwell Wildlife

The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), has awarded Dr Tania Gilbert a rare ‘Zoo and Aquarium Hero Award’ for her outstanding long-term conservation work.

The award followed hard on the heels of Scimitar-Horned Oryx Day on August 16 – a global celebration of a species Tania helped save from extinction.

Tania started working with our conservation team here at Marwell Wildlife in 2001, and is currently the Head of Conservation Science. She has been recognised for her work with this species of antelope with long, curved horns.

Indigenous to North Africa, the scimitar-horned oryx had completely disappeared from the wild by the 1990s due to over hunting, competition with domestic livestock, and droughts. However thanks to Marwell Wildlife and other organisations across the world, the species has been reintroduced to Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, and Chad, and as a result, they had a positive change in their conservation status from Extinct in the Wild to Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Tania manages multiple-stakeholder international conservation projects, including in Tunisia where Marwell Wildlife undertook the world’s first scimitar-horned oryx reintroductions from zoos to their natural habitat.

Tania said: “I’m truly honoured to have been given this award. This animal was extinct across its former range and now its back in the wild. It’s the perfect example of what can be achieved when we all work together to save species.

“It is incredibly rewarding to see them in the wild in Tunisia and to know that together we helped save a species that otherwise wouldn’t be here today.”

Dr Philip Riordan, Director of Conservation at Marwell Wildlife said: “Tania has been instrumental to the conservation success we have achieved for the scimitar-horned oryx. For over 20 years, Tania has provided expert support for zoo-based conservation, as International Studbook Keeper and European breeding programme manager, guiding a selection of animals that have been successfully reintroduced to the wild in Tunisia and Chad. Added to that, she has guided Marwell’s field conservation work in Tunisia, supporting our team and providing invaluable support. It is difficult to imagine that we would have succeeded in bringing the scimitar-horned oryx back from extinction without Tania’s contributions.”

Dr Jo Judge, CEO of BIAZA added: “Dr Gilbert’s contributions towards conservation, in particular for the scimitar-horned oryx, have been absolutely outstanding. Without Tania, we might not be celebrating this species’ incredible comeback today.

“She is a truly deserving recipient of the award and we are proud to have her among us in the zoo and aquarium community.”

Previous recipients of the Zoo and Aquarium Award include fundraisers who supported zoos over the pandemic, volunteers who have dedicated years of support to zoos/aquariums, and the hosts of CBBC’s One Zoo Three.