BIAZA presents coveted ‘Zoo and Aquarium Hero Award’ to legendary conservationist on Scimitar-Horned Oryx Day

BIAZA has awarded Dr Tania Gilbert from Marwell Wildlife a rare ‘Zoo and Aquarium Hero Award’ for her outstanding long-term conservation work.

Tania started working with the conservation team at Marwell Wildlife in 2001, and is currently the Head of Conservation Science.

The award was presented by BIAZA CEO Dr Jo Judge at Marwell Zoo last Saturday, on the backdrop of Scimitar-Horned Oryx Day; a global celebration of a species Tania has researched and conserved for decades.

Tania re-established the WAZA International Studbook for scimitar-horned oryx in 2004; combining data to form one international level studbook, which she managed for 20 years, and advises the EAZA Ex situ Programme (EEP) to this day.

In 2011 she completed her PhD with Marwell Wildlife and University of Southampton on endangered species population management which used the scimitar-horned oryx as a case study.

Her knowledge and research has been essential to the simitar-horned oryx release programme; providing population models for release strategies and integrating genetic analyses to select the best individuals for their 2016 release in Chad.

Tania has also served as the programme officer for the IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group for almost 10 years. Her work even included the IUCN Red List assessment which saw the species downgraded from  Extinct-in-the-Wild to Endangered, a massive achievement.

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

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 manager and European breeding programme manager, guiding 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 including 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.

Scimitar-Horned Oryx Day has been established by BIAZA and Marwell Wildlife, celebrated annually on 16 August. Find out more on our campaign page.