Sue Thornton BSc, BVetMed, MRCVS - Partner

Sue has a zoology degree from Durham University, she joined the practice in May 2000, having previously worked as Veterinary Officer at London Zoo and the Marine Mammal Center, California. Sue became a partner in the practice in 2003 - Sue is a past president of the BVZS and was on BVZS Council for over 10 years. She was the Senior Vice President of BVZS in 2007/2008, was a council member of BVZS for over ten years and was the veterinary advisor to the EAZA Amphibian and Reptile TAG and the UK HerpTAG for many years. Sue is a government appointed Zoo Inspector. In addition to her experience with a broad range of species, Sue has a special interest in fish and lower vertebrates, and is consultant vet to numerous aquaria. Sue is based in Hertfordshire, in the South of England.

Steve Philp BSc(Hons) MA VetMB GP Cert (Ex AP) MRCVS - Partner

Steve joined the practice in July 2011 and became a partner in 2017. Before he graduated from Cambridge University in 2005, he completed a course in Chemical and Mass Capture in South Africa and spent some time touring the country working with a Game Capture Team. Since qualifying, he has spent 6 years in mixed practice in the South West, seeing first opinion exotics cases. In 2007 he became the approved Vet for Newquay Zoo and provided their veterinary cover for more than 3 years whilst also providing services for Cornish Birds of Prey, Colliford Lake Park and the RSPCA. During that time he also assisted with some of IZVG�s work at Blue Reef Aquarium Newquay. Steve is based in Cambridge, in the South of England.

Tania Monreal Pawlowsky Lic. Vet. MRCVS - Partner

Tania graduated from Universidad Autonoma of Barcelona in February 1998, and spent 4 years travelling the World, working in zoos and conservation projects in Greece, Finland, Argentina, Mexico, the US, and with a whale Photo-ID and whale watching project in Norway. In 2000, she started working as a vet for the Aspro-Ocio group, becoming head of the Veterinary Department by 2002 and Technical Director by 2006. Since 2009, Tania divided her time between working for Barcelona Zoo as Curator for Aquatic Animals, and working for IZVG. Since 2015 she has worked full time with IZVG and became a partner in 2021. Tania is also Chair of the European Association for Aquatic Mammals Veterinary and Accreditation Committee, as well as an inspector for the Association. She is vet advisor for the EAZA elasmobranch TAG and EAZA bottlenose dolphin TAG and a member of the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine, the European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians and the British Veterinary Association. Tania is based in Barcelona, Spain.

Karen Archer BVSc BSc (Hons) CertAVP (ZM) MRCVS - Veterinary Surgeon

Karen joined the IZVG team in June 2017. She graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2007, having also completed a degree in Veterinary Conservation Medicine in 2005. Karen spent the following 10 years in mixed practice whilst also providing veterinary care to three North West zoological collections and seeing first opinion pet exotic cases. Karen is a List 1 Secretary of State's Zoo Inspector. In her spare time Karen enjoys competing in triathlons and particularly enjoys open water swimming in Scotland and the Lake District. Karen is based in Lancaster in the North West of England.

Elliott Simpson BVSc MRCVS - Veterinary Surgeon

Elliott joined the IZVG Team in 2021. He graduated from Bristol in 2014, having completed an internship in Avian Medicine and Surgery at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital. For the first five years following graduating, Elliott worked in mixed practice, steadily increasing both zoo and private exotic and falconry veterinary work. Between 2019-2021, he established his own mobile zoo veterinary practice, with joining IVZG the natural progression from there. In his spare time, he enjoys mountain biking, photography and falconry. Elliott is based in Norfolk, in the East of England.

Rowena Killick BVM&S MSc DZooMed DipECZM(ZHM) MRCVS FHEA - Veterinary Surgeon

Rowena qualified from Edinburgh vet school in 1997 and spent several years in practice before completing the MSc in Wild Animal Health at RVC/ZSL in 2005. After a further year in practice seeing first opinion cases and referred exotic pets, she completed a three-year residency at Bristol Zoo Gardens/University of Bristol, during which she achieved her RCVS Diploma in Zoo Medicine (Mammalian). She became a permanent staff vet at Bristol Zoo in 2010 and was awarded her ECZM Diploma in Zoo Health Management in 2017. In November 2021 she left Bristol Zoo to join the team at IZVG. She enjoys working with all species of animal, and her particular areas of interest include UVB provision and vitamin D, and zoo animal training for husbandry and veterinary procedures. She is the Veterinary Advisor for the BIAZA Animal Behaviour and Training Working Group and for the BIAZA Mammal Working Group Primate Focus Group. She is also the Veterinary Advisor for the Black Howler Monkey EEP. Rowena is based in the southwest of England.

SJ Smith BSc(Hons) BVetMed MRCVS - Veterinary Surgeon

SJ graduated from The Royal Veterinary College in 2012. In addition to her veterinary medicine degree, she also has a degree in Conservation Medicine from University of Liverpool. SJ spent the first part of her veterinary career working in general practice looking after pets, farm animals, wildlife and zoo animals throughout the South West of England and the Greater Sydney area, Australia, before joining Marwell Wildlife, where she worked for 6 years. She has previously held posts on the councils of The British Veterinary Zoological Society and BIAZA, and currently leads the BIAZA bovine TB focus group. SJ enjoys working with all species, but is particularly fond of anything with feathers or scales. She has a particular interest in geriatric animal care and human factors in animal care, including animal carer mental wellbeing.

Matthew R Siddle BVMS PgC(ExAP) MRCVS - Veterinary Surgeon

Matt graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2016 and subsequently worked for three years with small, farm, exotic, and zoo animals in Northumberland. In 2019, he moved to Canada for a one-year exotic, zoo, and wildlife internship at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan. In 2020, he moved to Hong Kong to work at a large, exotic animal referral hospital where he stayed for 3 years before joining IZVG.
He has completed externships at Dallas and Edinburgh Zoos as a student, published articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has attended multiple exotic and zoo conferences. He attained a post-graduate certificate in exotic animal practice in 2018 and is a RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Zoological Medicine.
Matt joined IZVG in 2023 and is based in Yorkshire.

Andrew Greenwood MA VetMB FSB CBiol DipECZM FRCVS - Veterinary Consultant

Andrew was a founding partner of IZVG in 1976. An internationally recognised expert in avian diseases and marine mammal care, he is a Specialist in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Since his retirement in 2019 Andrew has acted as a consultant for IZVG, his forty plus years as a zoo and wildlife vet combined with his wealth of knowledge and experience proving invaluable to the other IZVG clinicians.
Along with the late Dr John Lewis, Andrew founded Wildlife Vets International, for whom he is still Senior Veterinary Advisor.

Johanna Storm Rusu - Veterinary Consultant

Johanna was born and grew up in Venezuela, graduating as veterinary surgeon from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, in 1984. She became the main vet at Loro Parque, Tenerife, 1986-1988, where she helped develop their clinical facilities and looked after the health of over 3000 parrots. Head-hunted by the Zoo de la Casa de Campo, she became Madrid Zoo�s Technical Director and was one of the 8 signing members of what today is EAZA. Johanna relocated to the North of England, where she joined IZVG in 1991. Specialising in avian and reptile medicine and surgery, Johanna offered a first opinion and referrals clinic in Bradford for 30 years, where the majority of her time was dedicated to the medicine, surgery and husbandry of birds and reptiles. She was also involved in conservation projects, repeatedly supporting WVI in the Seychelles and India. Since her retirement in 2017 Johanna has consulted on many cases supporting the current IZVG clinical team. She continues to offer her clinical support and expertise to WVI and the Yorkshire Swan Rescue.