Скачать или смотреть Uncommon Ground Ep 8 | Cameron Kerr on conservation, leadership and a life with animals

Cameron Kerr has spent 25 years at the helm of Australia’s Taronga Zoo, transforming it from a traditional attraction into a global conservation powerhouse. A zoologist and conservationist at heart, Cameron’s story begins in the rock pools of Collaroy and the paddocks of rural NSW, where a pet donkey and injured rabbits sparked a lifelong love of animals.

In this conversation, Cameron reflects on a career that bridges science, business and ethics. He shares candid stories, from rescuing rabbits as a boy to running one of Australia’s most complex conservation organisations. We also hear about the moral dilemmas of keeping animals in zoos and how Taronga is leading world-first efforts to save species from platypuses to corals.

Cameron also opens up about leadership, values, and resilience, including what it takes to guide a thousand-strong team through crises like COVID, and how passion, patience and persistence can drive systemic change.

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Episode Running Order
• Opening: Introducing Cameron Kerr, Taronga and purpose (00:00)
• Childhood at Collaroy: rock pools, sea creatures and wonder (02:00)
• Family, loss, and early lessons in resilience (05:00)
• Growing up between city and bush: Sodwalls, rabbits and a pet donkey (09:00)
• Choosing science: missing out on vet school, studying ag science and animal health (14:00)
• Early career in research and agriculture: Bayer, sheep, and lice counts in Toowoomba (20:00)
• Discovering marketing and the bridge between science and business (25:00)
• Meeting Tracy, family life and raising four children in a “science household” (31:00)
• Joining Taronga: from pharma to zoo, and a sleepless night before the leap (37:00)
• Early challenges: financial crisis, hot dog mold, and rebuilding relevance (42:00)
• Major highlights: breeding programs, the Institute of Science and Learning, and releasing species to the wild (47:00)
• Platypus HQ and responding to bushfires, drought and extinction risk (54:00)
• Conservation beyond the zoo: corals, global partnerships, and the Great Barrier Reef seed bank (1:00:00)
• Commercialism vs. conservation: hotels, ice cream sales and building new revenue streams (1:06:00)
• War stories: the elephants from Thailand and an Indiana Jones-style rescue (1:11:00)
• Leading through COVID: call centres, ramping, and resilience (1:16:00)
• Inclusion and community: Eid at Taronga and the zoo as a safe space (1:20:00)
• Quickfire round: misconceptions, guilty pleasures, favourite animals, and what’s next (1:23:00)