Richard A. Kock

Dr. Richard Kock is a British (M.R.C.V.S.) veterinarian of 47 years of age and he has spent over 20 years in the wildlife field attached to the Zoological Society of London, initially as a veterinary officer for its captive collections and subsequently on conservation and animal health programmes around the world.

In 1991, he was seconded from ZSL to the Kenya Wildlife Service (a parastatal institution mandated to manage and conserve all wildlife in Kenya) to head a new Veterinary Unit (5 Vets, 2 Technicians, 30 officers and field staff) for a period of 7 years. The programme was successful with a now functional and sustained Unit at KWS. From November 1998-2000, he was seconded to an African regional body, the Organisation of African Unity/Inter African Bureau for Animal Resources (OAU-IBAR) Pan African Rinderpest Campaign. This has involved the organisation and implementation of extensive sero-surveillance and disease investigation in non-domestic ruminant species throughout eastern Africa and also in the Central African Republic. This activity continued from July 2000 to the present, setting up the Wildlife component of the Epidemiology Unit (PEU) of the new AU/IBAR Pan African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) programme, involving 30 countries in Africa. His area of responsibility is eastern Africa and the activities include: strategic planning for epidemiosurveillance amongst wildlife species, especially at the wildlife livestock interface; training of national staff in the appropriate veterinary techniques at national and regional levels; and practical support to field surveillance.

Dr. Kock has consulted for the IUCN (elephant), the World Wide Fund For Nature (rhino), The World Bank (Uganda Wildlife Authority development) and The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (GREP). He is Co-Chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Veterinary Specialist Group, and a member of the Cat and Antelope Specialist Groups of the SSC. He is well travelled, having had involvement in a variety of conservation-related initiatives in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia and the Caribbean. He promotes wildlife veterinary matters through extensive publications and at professional meetings. Dr. Kock is a registered specialist in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons of England, and a member of the Wildlife Disease Association, the British Veterinary Zoological Society, the World Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, the American Association of Zoo and Wildlife Vets, and the British Veterinary Association.