Personal History
Name: Norman Elder (Project Manager)
Age: 42
Educated to ‘O’ Level
Related work history: Two years working with circus horses, tigers, elephants and llamas.
Three years as a committee member of the ‘Friends of Belfast Zoo’ raising funds and presenting public talks on various animals housed at the zoo.
Nine years working with our native wildlife, two years independently, four years with Wildlife Rescue then three years working independently as Wildlife N.I.
For six years I worked from a two bedroom flat in Greenisland, answering calls from local people, my local PSNI and Belfast Zoo My own hobby of keeping insects and small animals meant that members of the public contacting the Zoo with enquiries regarding exotic animals were passed to me and I also began doing educational visits to local schools
After several contacts with the USPCA answering calls for them regarding exotic pets I began to receive calls for wildlife, passed to me by the USPCA call centre. More often than not it merely involved picking up an injured animal and transporting it to the nearest vet to be destroyed. Many of these animals could have survived if there had been adequate facilities to look after them for even just a short time. Wildlife held in containment at a vets surgery usually dies from stress, brought on by close proximity to cats, dogs and humans. It was during this time that the dream of a hospital specifically for wildlife was born.
I joined an organisation called Wildlife Rescue and became their most active volunteer. But after four years Wildlife Rescue was signed over to a new director who eventually wound up the organisation.
I spent two years, still answering calls and working full time as a bus driver, but it became too expensive to pay other drivers to do runs for me while I nipped out to pick up a swan or a hedgehog, so I resigned to dedicate all my time to wildlife.
I knew I needed land to set up a wildlife hospital, and was actively going door to door around the rural areas near Belfast, asking farmers if they had a few acres of waste ground they would rent to me for this purpose.
I called with the USPCA at their centre in Carryduff, which I often did when I was passing and happened to mention that I was looking for a site. A few days later I was contacted by Stephen Philpot the Director and offered the use of the 19 acre site which I now occupy at the old Causeway Safari park.
I have applied for Charity status, which should be forthcoming in the near future, but at present we have no source of funding. We have plenty of ground and outbuildings which we can utilise at present but in order to open to the public we still need to do a great deal of work around the site.
I’m very passionate about what I do and I often get really angry over stupid calls or members of the public doing stupid things or even threatening to go on radio or to the papers and complain about me because I won’t come and move a wild rabbit away from their house because they don’t like rabbits, or even travel 80 miles to ‘Chase’ a seagull off a roof because it has ‘pooped’ and left a white mark. I do try to bite my tongue but this isn’t always possible and I have been known to tell people exactly what I think of them. I’m not a public servant or paid by anyone, I do what I do free of charge, I don’t get a wage and I raise all the money to run our ambulances myself. I don’t work for the Government, the Council, the USPCA or You . I work for WILDLIFE that needs my help. I don’t have a boss you can complain to, so my attitude stays.
Age: 42
Educated to ‘O’ Level
Related work history: Two years working with circus horses, tigers, elephants and llamas.
Three years as a committee member of the ‘Friends of Belfast Zoo’ raising funds and presenting public talks on various animals housed at the zoo.
Nine years working with our native wildlife, two years independently, four years with Wildlife Rescue then three years working independently as Wildlife N.I.
For six years I worked from a two bedroom flat in Greenisland, answering calls from local people, my local PSNI and Belfast Zoo My own hobby of keeping insects and small animals meant that members of the public contacting the Zoo with enquiries regarding exotic animals were passed to me and I also began doing educational visits to local schools
After several contacts with the USPCA answering calls for them regarding exotic pets I began to receive calls for wildlife, passed to me by the USPCA call centre. More often than not it merely involved picking up an injured animal and transporting it to the nearest vet to be destroyed. Many of these animals could have survived if there had been adequate facilities to look after them for even just a short time. Wildlife held in containment at a vets surgery usually dies from stress, brought on by close proximity to cats, dogs and humans. It was during this time that the dream of a hospital specifically for wildlife was born.
I joined an organisation called Wildlife Rescue and became their most active volunteer. But after four years Wildlife Rescue was signed over to a new director who eventually wound up the organisation.
I spent two years, still answering calls and working full time as a bus driver, but it became too expensive to pay other drivers to do runs for me while I nipped out to pick up a swan or a hedgehog, so I resigned to dedicate all my time to wildlife.
I knew I needed land to set up a wildlife hospital, and was actively going door to door around the rural areas near Belfast, asking farmers if they had a few acres of waste ground they would rent to me for this purpose.
I called with the USPCA at their centre in Carryduff, which I often did when I was passing and happened to mention that I was looking for a site. A few days later I was contacted by Stephen Philpot the Director and offered the use of the 19 acre site which I now occupy at the old Causeway Safari park.
I have applied for Charity status, which should be forthcoming in the near future, but at present we have no source of funding. We have plenty of ground and outbuildings which we can utilise at present but in order to open to the public we still need to do a great deal of work around the site.
I’m very passionate about what I do and I often get really angry over stupid calls or members of the public doing stupid things or even threatening to go on radio or to the papers and complain about me because I won’t come and move a wild rabbit away from their house because they don’t like rabbits, or even travel 80 miles to ‘Chase’ a seagull off a roof because it has ‘pooped’ and left a white mark. I do try to bite my tongue but this isn’t always possible and I have been known to tell people exactly what I think of them. I’m not a public servant or paid by anyone, I do what I do free of charge, I don’t get a wage and I raise all the money to run our ambulances myself. I don’t work for the Government, the Council, the USPCA or You . I work for WILDLIFE that needs my help. I don’t have a boss you can complain to, so my attitude stays.
