Community : Collaborations

Nailsea School helping worldwide conservation

Bristol Zoo and Bristol University had been working on the production of rubber bands to improve the identification of African Penguins both in captivity and in the wild.  Prior to 2006 metal bands had been used and a number of studies had shown the detrimental effect on both the penguins and their environment.  Bristol Zoo and Bristol University had been having problems with producing high quality flexible bands and asked Nailsea School for help.

Our Technology Faculty began building prototypes in 2007.   It took 6 months of painstaking design and evaluation before all the problems were ironed out and improved moulds were created on the school laser cutter which finally produced the award winning new flipper bands.

Staff from the Technology Faculty now manufacture hundreds of silicone bands at a time for Bristol Zoo.  This is a delicate task, taking hours to produce each batch of the tiny bands which will contain identification information used by scientists and biologists tracking and researching the threatened African Penguins.

Nailsea School are proud to support this worthwhile conservation program.  The outcome of this partnership with Bristol Zoo has now received international recognition and most importantly led to the improved welfare of both wild and captive penguins.  

Bristol Zoo...