Horstmann Curator, Holly, reflects on the IAATE Symposium 2023

At first glance, you might wonder how much IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators) has to do with vulture conservation, as it happens more than meets the eye. Although the Horstmann Trust is a centre focused on conservation breeding, and we aren’t doing free flight demonstrations, etc., there are elements of what we do that involve training. By having an aspect of training in our routines, we can make cleaning enclosures quicker, easier and safer. We can ensure the birds are comfortable enough not to get stressed and keep a better eye on their health. There are also a small number of birds that are not currently part of our breeding programmes, but they are used as ambassador birds in line with our educational values. Being a member of IAATE allows me to connect with others, improve my knowledge base and work in these areas, and share my experience with others.

September saw the first-ever IAATE UK symposium, where I had the pleasure of being invited to speak. It provided an excellent opportunity to introduce IAATE members to the work we do at the Horstmann Trust, as well as talk a little bit about how we are using the conservation grant we received from IAATE to support the research we’re doing with the vultures (more on this later!)

Talking to the 63 delegates in attendance, I shared our beginnings and our mission as a charity with an audience who collectively already love vultures and many of whom work with vultures in their own institutions. I then had a great many conversations during the rest of the event with people who are interested and passionate about our work and keen to know more, asking questions to help vultures in their own collections or find ways to help the Horstmann Trust.

It is traditional at these events to hold a fundraising raffle, so I took along some Horstmann Trust merchandise prototypes I’ve been working on (keep an eye out for those!) to throw into the mix and along with some other fantastic prizes, we raised over £700 towards the conservation and education grant funds. These grants are available for all IAATE members to help fund specified projects within their organisations. We were lucky enough to receive a $5000 conservation grant from IAATE in January, which helped fund our research project to establish baseline haematology and biochemistry values for hooded vultures. This project will assist in veterinary care for birds worldwide by better indicating normal ranges for blood values such as white cell count and ionised calcium levels.

During the three-day event, I had the opportunity to hear many other speakers and share ideas with them to better the care of vultures across all the members. We also had the chance to visit a few other zoological collections during the week. Seeing new birds in different places and catching up with a few old friends is always exciting! All in all, it was a very successful event, which I’m proud to have been a part of, and I’ve been able to spread the word about the vital work we’re doing at the Horstmann Trust and gain some important friends and supporters along the way.