About Us
About the NAC – an Unusual Attitude to Business
We manage our lives & business in a way which is perhaps unusual and as such you deserve to know about it up front …
Since 1997 when the NAC formally opened all of our decisions (personal, financial and business) have been driven by our core belief system - compassion for animals. We are in principle a ‘not-for –profit organisation’; all of the centre’s surpluses are channelled into furthering our mission statement …
positively influencing the well-being of animals worldwide
This does not conflict with adopting commercially sensible policies & the resulting cashflows have allowed us to personally set up …
A working example of animals living naturally & base for our courses in
Accommodation for students attending courses
Meet the team
Heather & Ross founded the NAC in 1997 when they opened their first centre in Sussex. In 2003 they moved to Wales to set up the main teaching cente (NAC 1) and NAC 2 to provide accomodation for our students. With a background in animal behaviour, Heather is currently finishing her PhD in zebra behaviour working with Professor Christine Nicol of Bristol Vet School. The research is undetaken at our centre in Africa, where we have approximately 100 zebra. Also with a background as a finance director, Ross specialised as an animal trainer.
Jonathan Mitchell is the UK manager for the NAC, joining Heather and Ross in 2002 and having progressed through all of the NAC qualifications, he teaches and consults at our centre in Wales & from our venue in Essex.
We are well supported by a team of working students who benefit from a combination of practical experience in the day to day management of animals and formal study under the behaviour qualification program.
In
Meet the NAC animals
At the NAC our animals are encouraged to express most natural behaviours … why wouldn’t we all do this for all animals?
From our herd of 8 horses who live in our barn management system, which allows them to remain as a permanent social group, move while they eat as they would in the wild, to our rabbits who live in thier man-made rabbit warren, with constant access to our small animal garden we try to find working compromises to mimic their natural environment.
A working model …
Our goal is to create environments that go some way to satisfying the natural needs of that species (their ethogram) in an attempt to reduce the stress which domestication can impose. It is always helpful to go back to the evolutionary source for a species to see just what types of behaviours are most important to them (prioritisation of needs).
It all comes down to applying the science of animal behaviour to improve individual welfare. This is the focus of all our educational courses.
6,000ha of pristine wilderness including forest, grassland, fresh water lagoons, beach & the
Comparative Equid Research Programme
Behavioural research on horses, donkeys & zebras.
We have made substantial progress in translating the research into practical advice for the animal owner & with the basic building blocks in place (UK & Mozambique centres + 8 years of PhD level research on individuals), we are now focused on conservation & research projects along the evolutionary path of the equid family (zebras & wild asses) – from southern through East Africa, the Middle East & into Asia (India, Tibet, Mongolia). We now need outside financial support to achieve our objectives of getting the equids off the endangered list. If you would like to help please contact us on
44 (0)1986 892196
Following our investment in the Mozambican project capital requirements for the envisaged projects will outstrip our personal ability to fund them. We are progressively moving to a strategy of raising funds through our
These are some of the projects lined up and require external funding:
Wild Ass Behaviour Research: Aimed at understanding the needs of the Tibetan Wild Ass, Khur & Somali WildAss … Cost: £700k each over 10 years.
Over the path of our evolution as the NAC and WEPT our commitment to a robust ethical policy has been a constant source of inspiration and comfort. The development of an ethical strategy has been perhaps the most challenging in our development and we continue to evaluate all we do in the light of our mission statement.
We hope our high level of ethical standards will be of benefit to you as an associate of the NAC and all it stands for.
Zebra Behaviour Research: Aimed at understanding the needs of wild equids - all of whom are on the endangered list. Cost: £700 over 10 years (costs as above).
Comparative Equid Research: Aimed at motivating animal owners to improve the welfare of domestic horses & donkeys. Cost: £350k over 5 years for external research salaries, local operating costs, publication & education.
