Chester student gets dream job in Caribbean

Dec 5 2008 Chester Chronicle

FORMER Reaseheath College animal behaviour and welfare student Jimmy Dale is off to a dream job in the Caribbean.

Encouraged by lecturers from the Nantwich college, Chester resident Jimmy, 24, has secured an exciting opportunity to help save a giant frog species on the islands of Dominica and Montserrat.

The frog, called the Dominican Mountain Chicken because it tastes like poultry, is a main source of protein for the islanders. The frog population has been decimated by volcanic eruptions and fungus.

Jimmy is joining a team who hope to establish a successful captive breeding programme and reintroduce the frog into the food chain.

The project is led by London Zoo, supported by Chester Zoo and the Government of Dominica. It will eventually be handed over to the locals.

Jimmy, who will be in the Caribbean for at least a year, said: “This is an amazing opportunity to help both the local people and these rare amphibians. I owe it to the enthusiasm and encouragement of Reaseheath staff and the hands-on experience with the reptiles and amphibians at the college’s animal centre which I couldn’t have got elsewhere.”

Jimmy, who lives in Boughton, Chester, completed a Higher National Diploma in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Reaseheath which included four weeks work experience at Stapeley Water Gardens, Nantwich. He became a full-time keeper there for two years, followed by a period as an assistant biologist on a sea turtle conservation project in Costa Rica.