Roger Wilkinson

Roger Wilkinson, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Head of Conservation and Science and at Chester Zoo, Roger Wilkinson was Curator of Birds there between 1983 and 1999 and until recently General Curator Higher Vertebrates and Research. He now oversees Chester Zoo's increasing commitment to Conservation and Research programmes. He has a special interest in developing overseas conservation links and in managing budget-supporting conservation and research programmes linked to the zoo.

Chairman of the EAZA Parrot TAG (taxon advisory group) since its inception in 1992, he was also the EEP Species Co-ordinator for the Palm Cockatoo and remains ESB studbook keeper for the Blue-eyed Cockatoo. He has participated in a wide range of zoo breeding programmes for birds and published widely on avicultural matters. A council member of the Avicultural Society, he is a regular contributor to the Avicultural Magazine. His positions include Secretary of the West African Ornithological Society, member of the IUCN Pheasant Specialist Group, and co-chair of the EAZA Hornbill TAG. He came into birds through aviculture; he kept and bred Australian parakeets and joined the Parrot Society in its inaugural year.

Previously Roger was Senior Lecturer in Department of Biology Sciences at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria and is an Honorary Research Fellow of Keele University. He has a BSc in Zoology and a PhD from Southampton University. With considerable field experience, he has written papers for scientific publications in ornithology, bird behaviour and ecology.

Roger enjoys seeing birds in the wild, in the UK and abroad and has seen more than 100 parrot species in the wild. In 2001 he achieved his ambition of seeing wild Palm Cockatoos and Blue-eyed Cockatoos while on a birding trip to Papua New Guinea.