072 173 2282

Qualifications:

Veterinary Specialist Wildlife, Diplomate ECZM (ZHM)

Katja Koeppel was born in Germany . She studied veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow, UK and started her veterinary career in Hamburg, Germany. She went to South Africa for her Dr. med. vet. and fell in love with Africa. She completed a Masters in wildlife and tropical disease at the University of Pretoria. She started working as the associate veterinarian at the Johannesburg Zoo were she started to get involved in the ground-hornbill project. She became the head veterinarian at the zoo in 2010 and become the veterinary advisor for the project. She was awarded the diplomate status from the European College of Zoological Medicine in Zoo Health Management in 2015. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Wildlife at the University of Pretoria.

She is passionate about wildlife and conservation and became intensely involved with the health care of the birds firstly at the Johannesburg Zoo and then for the entire project.