BW Consultants: Tim Van Loan

Tim started working with animals as a Junior Docent at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in middle school, and immediately knew he wanted to spend his career sharing close relationships with animals. He pursued his interest through college by writing an undergraduate thesis on the foraging behavior of banded mongoose in Kasane, Botswana. After graduating with a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puget Sound, he moved cross country to work at Walt Disney World as a marine mammal intern, and then later a behavioral husbandry assistant at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Throughout his career he has been lucky enough to work around the world as a bird trainer, show leader, and behavioral husbandry manager through opportunities provided by Natural Encounters Inc. Tim also spent a year and a half in Shanghai, China working for the Walt Disney Company training human animals! He now works full time at The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens, a conservation center dedicated to the preservation, education, and appreciation of desert ecosystems and animal wellbeing. In his role as Behavior & Animal Wellbeing curator, he has been able to fulfill his dreams of improving the lives of all types of animals.

Tim is most proud of the work done to create and grow the Indianapolis Zoo's presentation "Magnificent Macaws," a free flight macaw experience that lets people see and hear the beauty of birds. He is a certified professional animal trainer and bird trainer (KA-CPAT & KA-CPBT) through IATCB, a course instructor for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Course "Managing Animal Enrichment & Training Programs," and a member of the AZA Animal Welfare committee & Annual Conference Program committee. Tim has educated and presented his work around the world at places including the International Congress on Zookeeping, the Association of Zoos & Aquariums annual conference, Macaw Recovery Network Costa Rica, Abidjan Zoo Côte d'Ivoire, and for the Southeast Asian Zoos Association. He is a proud graduate of Dr. Susan Friedmann's Learning and Living with Animals & How Research Works courses.

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Tim Van Loan