Animal Management
The Animal Management department at Bishop Burton plays a leading role in ensuring that the College is able to provide a wide range of courses that supply students with a solid grasp of all things animal.
With strong links to animal industry, the animal department work closely with local councils and licensing officers, as well as charitable organisations such as the Guide Dogs for the Blind and the RSPCA. These links are reinforced by offering part-time and short course qualifications.
The department is also able to offer short or bespoke courses for those who may already be working within the industry.
Animal Management Unit
Over the past five years the Animal Management Unit has been expanded and developed to make it one of the best specialist facilities in the UK.
The Unit is a state-of-the-art facility which reaches and surpasses professional industrial standards.
The latest extension doubled the size of the unit and provided staff and students with two new handling rooms, a self-contained isolation unit, an office and a staffroom and will also allow a new project room to be created within the existing building.
Due to the great range of animal species held in the Animal Management Unit, learners are able to experience all aspects of animal keeping at a professional level.
Students working on the Unit will learn husbandry techniques essential to their future animal careers, ranging from working in a laboratory environment to working with exotic species in a public-orientated workplace.
Animal Collection
There are currently around 100 species on site and available for use in practical study. The Unit has specific areas for birds and aquatics, invertebrates and reptiles.
Mammal species range from small domestics (rabbits, rats, mice, chinchillas, guinea pigs etc) to more exotic species such as Lemurs and marmosets.
Learners are also able to work with livestock on the College farm and opportunities are available to visit other animal collections across the UK and Europe to research other species and further any programmes of study.
Kennels and Grooming
The Animal Management Unit includes a fully operational kennel and grooming facility. This facility is used for canine-specific courses, but also to teach husbandry techniques on a range of different courses and capabilities.
The kennels and grooming parlour is a fully operational commercial enterprise, offering learners yet more industry experience, and is open to the public all year round for dog boarding and a wide range of grooming services.
Latest developments
A new outdoor extension to the animal management unit at Bishop Burton College will see the introduction of larger and more exotic species for learners to work with.
The brand new Outdoor Animal Management Centre houses a number animals whose husbandry needs are more complex, such as rheas, wallaby and alpaca - all animals which will provide new challenges for both Further and Higher Education learners.
In order to accommodate these new species an area adjacent to the existing animal management unit has been constructed which contains paddocks, aviaries, stabling, a new lemur enclosure and enclosures for smaller social mammals.
The College has already welcomed a family of meerkats into this dedicated area.
This latest development will put Bishop Burton College at the forefront of animal management teaching in the UK.
