Speakers

Biologist with a postgraduate degree in wildlife, breeding, and management, she worked for 26 years in Brazil with breeding under human care, always prioritizing research and the refinement of reproductive techniques. By managing zoos and Brazil’s leading psittacine breeding centres, she achieved excellent results that have been published in various media outlets.

For the past nine years, she has led the bird team at Loro Parque Fundación, after accepting the invitation to become bird curator at both Loro Parque and Loro Parque Fundación. There, she has been adapting and applying breeding methodologies to the current context. She believes that, beyond the importance of building a strong and unified team, the development, adaptation, and application of specific methodologies for each breeding situation and species is key to achieving successful outcomes.

She strongly believes that the union of efforts should be valued not only within the Fundación itself but also between teams from different countries and those working directly with birds in the wild—so as to obtain the best possible results for species conservation.

She is the Management Consultant for the Captive Breeding Program of the Lear’s Macaw, Anodorhynchus leari, a native and threatened Brazilian species, property of the Brazilian Government. Loro Parque Fundación has achieved indisputable breeding success with this species—not only due to its accumulated reproductive expertise but also thanks to the birth of four chicks in the Brazilian caatinga, descended from birds born and raised at Loro Parque Fundación and later transferred to Brazil.

In addition, she is part of the expert advisory group that provides technical support and participates in decision-making for the Population Management Program (PMP) of the blue macaws (Cyanopsitta spixii, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, Anodorhynchus leari).

Marcia Weinzettl has given lectures in various parts of the world, sharing her extensive knowledge of complex South American tropical psittacine species, as well as the breeding results obtained at the Fundación and the importance of this knowledge for species conservation.

Marcia will undoubtedly be one of the international references with whom participants will be able to exchange and receive valuable information.

He became an agrégé professor of Life and Earth Sciences in 1977 and has been retired since 2000. He has been involved in the world of parrots since 1972, working as a private breeder of dwarf macaws. Over the years, he has taken part in several field expeditions that resulted in publications on Ara rubrogenys, Ara glaucogularis and Poicephalus flavifrons between 1990 and 2005.

He served as EEP Coordinator and initiated an in situ conservation project for the Red-vented cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), which he presented at the Loro Parque International Convention in 1998.

He is currently Vice-President of the Conservatoire des Oiseaux Exotiques (CDE), where he oversees both in situ and ex situ conservation programmes focusing on Amazona lilacina, Ara ambiguus guayaquilensis, Ara glaucogularis, Cyanoramphus saisseti, Lathamus discolor, Eunymphicus cornutus and E. uvaeensis.

Prof. Dr med vet, DZooMed, DipECZM, DipECPVS

Michael Lierz graduated in Hanover, Germany and earned his doctorate title by thesis from the Free University of Berlin, Germany working on diseases and rehabilitation of raptors. After being 4 years the director of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Research Hospital in the United Arab Emirates he returned to the Free University of Berlin in 2001, working as a scientific assistant. In 2009 he moved to the University of Giessen as the director of the Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish. He holds the European Diplomate status of the European College of Zoological Medicine (Wildlife Population Health), the European College of Poultry Veterinary Science, and the RCVS Diplomate status in Zoological Medicine (avian). In Germany he holds the specialist status in Poultry- and Avian Medicine, in Zoo- and Wildlife Medicine, in Microbiology, and in Species Conservation. His maim field of research is assisted reproduction in birds, novel infectious diseases and wildlife conservation. He authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, 41 book chapters and is editor of 2 scientific books.

Michael Lierz leads the Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, Giessen, Germany. He is Diplomate of the ECZM (Wildlife Population Health), the ECPVS, and the RCVS in ZooMed (avian). He holds the specialist status in Poultry- and Avian Medicine, in Zoo- and Wildlife Medicine, in Microbiology, and Species Conservation.

Jean-Loup Rault is a Professor of Animal Welfare Science at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria. He has 20 years of experience working on animal welfare, with recent work on parrot welfare specifically.

He grew up keeping and breeding parakeets and parrots and attended the 6^th International Parrot Convention in Tenerife back in 2006. He has a PhD in Animal Behavior and Well-Being from Purdue University (USA) and has become an internationally recognized scientist in the field of animal welfare science (Profile), having published more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific articles on the topic, particularly on animal social interactions and human-animal relationships.

Given his passion for parrots, he published an innovative study on assessing parrot welfare from social media videos (Study). This was followed by a series of studies led by PhD student Andrea Piseddu and in collaboration with parrot veterinary expert Dr. Yvonne van Zeeland (Utrecht University) to develop a parrot welfare assessment tool, based on science and with the help of international parrot experts. For this project, the team screened the scientific literature to identify indicators of parrot welfare (Study), involved parrot experts internationally to assess the validity and practicality of the proposed indicators (Study), and ultimately established a list of the most important parrot welfare indicators as a science-based parrot welfare assessment tool (paper in preparation). This tool can be used in practice by parrot owners, caretakers, veterinarians, behavioural consultants or anyone interested in assessing the welfare of their parrots, monitoring it over time, or identifying possible room for improvement.

Bjarne Østergård Rasmussen (DVM) is a Danish veterinary surgeon and lifelong aviculturist with more than four decades of experience in the care and breeding of companion and exotic birds. He earned his Master of Veterinary Science from the Danish Veterinary University in Copenhagen in 1982 and has practised continuously ever since, specialising in avian medicine, exotic species and other small animals.

Rasmussen is the proprietor of Hårlev Dyreklinik and has long been a recognised local veterinary figure in Stevns Municipality, where he has also been active in community and municipal affairs.

An avid breeder since youth, Rasmussen has worked with a wide variety of parrot species — historically keeping African Greys and several cockatoo taxa — and for the past two decades has focussed on the successful breeding and distribution of Guarouba guarouba to private collections and institutions in several countries. His name appears in Danish aviculture breeder indexes, reflecting long-term involvement in organised birdkeeping.

He is a lifetime member of Loro Parque Fundación and a frequent attendee of the International Parrot Conventions held in Tenerife, connecting with the global conservation and aviculture community. Public social posts and convention material referencing him confirm his long-standing links with Loro Parque and its events.

Throughout his career Rasmussen has combined clinical practice with hands-on husbandry and breeding work, bringing veterinary rigour to aviary management and reinforcing the bridge between clinical avian medicine and ex-situ conservation breeding.

With a degree in Biology specialising in Zoology, a Master’s in Ethology with a specialisation in Primatology, and a PhD in Psychology, she has devoted her research career to understanding animal behaviour from an evolutionary and comparative perspective. Her doctoral thesis, entitled “Personality, Wellbeing and Mental Disorders in Chimpanzees and Orcas: An Evolutionary and Comparative Perspective”, led to pioneering and high-impact scientific contributions, including the first diagnosis of the repertoire of mental disorders in a non-human species (chimpanzees) and the first assessment of personality structure in a cetacean (orcas).

Her research has focused on the qualitative analysis of animal personality, the study of its correlations with wellbeing and cognitive indicators, as well as the design of innovative tools for assessing animal welfare. She has conducted research primarily with chimpanzees, but also with orcas and Iberian lynxes.

In the academic sphere, she has lectured at several Spanish universities, teaching subjects related to primatology, animal personality, mental disorders in animals, and qualitative methodologies for studying animal behaviour. She currently teaches on a Master’s Degree in Primatology, actively contributing to the training of new researchers in the field of animal behaviour.

At present, she serves as Animal Welfare Coordinator at Loro Parque, where, among other responsibilities, she oversees the systematic observation of animal behaviour, staff training in best husbandry practices, and the management of documentation and regulations in relation to professional associations, audits, and inspections. However, one of the department’s main areas of work is the design and implementation of environmental enrichment programmes for all animals at Loro Parque. This aspect is particularly significant in the case of psittacines, not only because of the large number and diversity of individuals housed in the park, but also due to the high cognitive abilities, complex social lives, and constant need for stimulation exhibited by many of these species. These factors require highly specialised enrichment strategies to ensure their wellbeing in controlled environments.

Neil Hamilton is an ornithologist, aviculturist, and wildlife specialist with more than fifty years of field and zoo experience. He has held roles from Acting Director of Conservation to Curator of Birds and Australian Mammals, including six years as Curator of Birds at Perth Zoo. His career spans major institutions in Australia, Singapore, and Papua New Guinea, with long-term involvement in breeding under human care, species recovery, and threatened-fauna translocation programs.

For the past 25 years, Neil has worked with Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions as a Senior Technical Officer, contributing to research on native fauna and feral predator management. He founded Ghost Bird Consultancy in 2018, leading biodiversity surveys and remote field projects across Western Australia.

Neil is best known for his ongoing work on the critically endangered Night Parrot, contributing to key discoveries including the first Night Parrot caught and radio-tracked in Western Australia in its 163 years. He collaborates closely with Curtin University, DBCA, Indigenous ranger groups, and a wide volunteer network to advance research, monitoring, and conservation of this elusive species.

Prof. Dr Matthias Reinschmidt (born 28 May 1964)
He has been involved with parrots since the age of eight. It all began with a pair of budgerigars, from which he developed a thriving breeding collection. Larger parakeet species and large parrots soon followed. Even before beginning his biology studies at the University of Tübingen (from 1986), he completed a six-month internship at Karlsruhe Zoo. This experience reinforced a wish he had had since the age of six: to become a zoo director. He completed his diploma thesis at Karlsruhe Zoo (1992) on the Tucumán Amazon (Amazona tucumana), and later his doctoral thesis at Loro Parque in Tenerife on the Major Mitchell’s cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri). Since 2022, he has been an Honorary Professor at KIT in Karlsruhe, focusing on biodiversity and species conservation.

Between 1993 and 2001 he worked as an editor for the magazine PAPAGEIEN (Parrots) at Arndt-Verlag in Bretten, Germany. At Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, he worked from 2001 onwards, first as Curator and from 2010 as Zoological Director. In July 2015 he became Director of Karlsruhe Zoo, where he has made species conservation the guiding principle of his work. The zoo’s diverse bird collection includes almost 30 different parrot species within a total of 140 bird species (345 animal species in total). Since 2016 he has been Chairman of the Karlsruhe Zoo Conservation Foundation and, since 2018, President of the Bird Lovers Association Achern e.V.

To this day he has published countless articles in specialist magazines on parrots, as well as ten books on the subject, and has taken part in more than 500 TV productions. He now regularly travels with German TV legend Frank Elstner to document endangered animal species around the world. Together, they have produced thirteen 90-minute conservation documentaries for German television (SWR) to date.

Wildlife Biologist
United States Fish and Wildlife Service – Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program

Thomas (Tom) White is originally from western Tennessee, USA and holds a BS degree in Natural Resources Management from the University of Tennessee at Martin (1984), a MS degree in Wildlife Management from Louisiana State University (1986), and a PhD in Wildlife Ecology (Sociology minor) from Mississippi State University (1996).

From 1986 to 1992, Tom worked as an undercover agent in the Covert Operations Unit of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, infiltrating and prosecuting organized groups of illegal poachers and wildlife traffickers throughout Tennessee and the southeastern USA. During this time, he successfully prosecuted over 100 individuals on a variety of state and Federal charges.

Since earning his PhD in 1996, Tom has been living and working in the Caribbean, where he is involved with the conservation of endangered Neotropical parrots. His first work with parrots was leading a 3-year experimental captive release project with Hispaniolan parrots in the Dominican Republic, and since 1999 he has been responsible for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s reintroduction efforts for, and management of, the critically-endangered Puerto Rican parrot in the montane rainforests of the El Yunque National Forest. Tom has also served in the field as a volunteer or technical advisor for several parrot conservation and research projects in the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, New Zealand, and Texas, USA. He is also a member of the Reintroduction Advisory Group for the Spix’s macaw reintroduction program in Brazil. Tom has also served on US Department of the Interior technical assistance program projects for wildlife and biodiversity conservation in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Papua New Guinea. During the past 30 years, Tom has authored or co-authored over 35 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters derived from his research efforts.

Scientific Director

Ex–situ & in-situ Projects

Loro Parque Fundation

E-mail: loros@loroparque-fundacion.org

An expert in the management and breeding of animals under human care, Rafael Zamora has successfully bred a wide variety of species. This hands-on experience laid the foundation for his extensive expertise in the field. His training began with direct work involving a diverse range of animals, from native and European to exotic wild and domestic species. While studying biology, he established his own bird breeding facility, maintaining an average of over 500 specimens annually, including reptiles and small mammals. This practical experience paved the way for a research fellowship in 1998, as part of a collaboration between the University of La Laguna and Loro Parque Fundación. Over several years, he studied the reproductive behaviour of the Spix’s macaw, which later enabled him to join the expert team at Loro Parque and its Foundation, where he played a key role in the successful breeding of this species extinct in the wild.

Throughout his career, Zamora specialized in zoology and works as an ornithologist and curator at the Loro Parque Fundación. In this capacity, he has advised numerous international projects focused on the breeding and reintroduction of endangered species.

Recognized as a distinguished international speaker, he has delivered presentations at prestigious institutions across Europe, Central and South America, Asia, and Oceania. He is the author of several scripts for nature documentaries and regularly participates in environmental interviews and panel discussions on radio and television. Additionally, he frequently publishes specialized articles on psittacines and contributes to both scientific and popular publications on advanced husbandry, breeding, and conservation topics worldwide.

His profound knowledge of birds in both wild and controlled environments provides a powerful tool for conservation. This holistic perspective shapes his work at Loro Parque Fundación, where he currently serves as Scientific Director, overseeing the effective integration of the institution’s ex situ and in situ conservation projects.