Welcome to Ali’s Menagerie! My name is Alistair, and this website is one of my many exciting projects. Here’s a bit about me...
Me:
Almost my entire life is about animals, from my career to my free time, I can hardly get away! If I’m not working, you’ll likely find me at another collection somewhere in the UK, probably armed with a camera, or at home looking after my extensive collection.
I am a zookeeper, non-fiction writer, and amateur wildlife photographer with great ambitions to make a difference to the zoo, pet, and conservation worlds. I’ve worked in various collections in the UK, published a variety of works, and gained qualifications from Sparsholt College to help me on my way.
My career:
I have had the pleasure of being surrounded by animals and nature for pretty much my entire life. I was able to grow up among a variety of domestic species at home and would frequently explore the local area in search of the UK’s native wildlife. Combined with the support of my parents and family, this helped to foster a genuine love and passion for the natural world and its conservation, leading to a career in the animal industry!
I was incredibly lucky to begin my zookeeping journey at the age of just 15, having secured a placement at New Forest Wildlife Park, a collection that had become a regular element of my life as a zoo and otter-obsessed child! Here I was able to learn about the amazing species I was working with, such as European Bison and Eurasian Lynx, which further cemented in my mind that this was the job for me. I worked at the park at least 1 day each week, regularly coming in on additional days and holidays, whenever my college timetable allowed. As my college course came to an end, so did my time at New Forest Wildlife Park, and I sought the next step in my zoo journey.
Since, I have had the pleasure of working with some incredible species, people, and collections here in the UK, and have even found myself in Africa working with an incredible in-situ conservation project with the likes of rhino and giraffe. I’ve also contributed to research through college and external projects, publishing studies on some of the species I have worked with, such as Giant Otters, and I have produced BIAZA-standard care guides.
Currently I have the amazing opportunity to live and work at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, where I am part of an incredible, dedicated team looking after nearly 40 big and small cats. The site is committed to conservation, education, research, and rescue, whilst upholding the highest standards of animal welfare.
Other collections I have worked with previously include: Marwell Wildlife, Sparsholt College, and Sealife Weymouth.
My menagerie:
The menagerie is a result of almost a decade of exotic pet keeping. I first dove into the world of exotic pets, back in 2015 with a pair of Berber Skinks, Spot and Alex. This soon proved to be a HUGE mistake on my parents’ part and has led to the accumulation of a huge range of exotic species, with my own collection now home to 40 species, and hundreds of animals!
As the collection and my passion for welfare and education grew, I decided to set up a website and social media channels to help promote high standards of welfare, taking a scientific and evidence-based approach to modern day pet keeping. As a result, this website was born! It has allowed me to help thousands of keepers, and their animals, right across the globe. Starting this page has also led me to some unexpected places and allowed me to contribute to mainstream pet-keeping literature, with articles published in the likes of Exotics Keeper magazine.
I hope you've enjoyed finding out a little bit more about the person behind the menagerie, and that you find the content on this site, and my social media, valuable! Thank you for reading.
Alistair Gamblin
Social media:
@alis_menagerie
@alis.aviary
@zookeeper_ali