Quentin Bloxam

Most of Quentin’s career was spent at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust which was founded by the author and naturalist, Gerald Durrell, in the Channel Islands of Jersey. During his time at Durrell, Quentin held the positions of Curator of Mammals, Curator of Herpetology, Senior Curator and lastly Director of Conservation Management. His time was spent overseeing and studying the breeding of many endangered species including Andean Bears, Mauritian Round Island reptiles, Madagascar and European tortoises, Caribbean and European amphibians and West Indian island boas. For a number of years he was an active member of the International Union For the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Iguana Specialist Group, and he initiated the recovery program for the Mallorca Midwife Toad which involved the study and reproduction of this small amphibian in Jersey before the reintroduction on Mallorca. Quentin also was involved in the eradication of invasive rats on Praslin Island in St Lucia and directly translocated whip tail lizards from Maria Island Major to Praslin Island in order to set up a safety net population that thrives to this day. Quentin has been involved in field work in Mauritius, Madagascar, St Lucia, Antigua, Mallorca, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

A great deal of Quentin’s time has been spent in Madagascar where he has been involved in staff training at Madagascar’s national zoo, Tsimbazaza Park, as well as advising in setting up the breeding facilities for the critical endangered Ploughshare tortoise based in Ampijoroa. During his time in Madagascar he accompanied Gerald Durrell on his last overseas trip which he wrote about in his book, “The Aye-Aye and I”. Quentin has lead numerous tours to Madagascar as well as Ecuador and the Galapagos, and is a keen wildlife photographer. Since his retirement from Durrell Quentin continues to lead wildlife tours and travels extensively. In Jersey, Quentin spends his time walking his 2 dogs and playing tennis (rather badly)!