Zoe Muller  - PhD student at the University of Bristol

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 I have been fascinated by animals from as early as I can remember.  I grew up in Saudi Arabia where we had a huge tropical garden which I happily filled with animals of every variety, from tortoises to horses.  I used to love watching the variety of birds which would flit in and out of the palm trees in our garden, and I was enthralled as my father told me how these birds had travelled thousands of miles to reach our warm weather.  My childhood was spent tending to my menagerie, snorkelling in the Red Sea and camping out in remote parts of the desert, and I grew fascinated with the diversity of life, how animals could live in such a variety of environments and how they adapted their lives to survive. 

​My interest in behaviour led me to study psychology at University but it was only in my third year that I found what I was really looking for, by taking a module called “Ethology & Sociobiology”.  This was my first realisation that animal behaviour was a topic that could be studied on its own.  The next step was a MSc in Animal Behaviour, which led me to field work in Kenya.  While in Kenya I became interested in giraffes, and noticed that they would typically be found within small groups, often comprised of the same individuals, but the behaviour that I saw in the field was different to what was written in the guide books.  The more I read, the more I noticed that population estimates were declining, yet no one seemed to be aware of this.  I was frustrated by the lack of interest in, and knowledge of, giraffes and so I started my research project study their social organisation, and to advocate for their conservation and survival in the wild.