Louise (Lou) Grossfeldt (born Louise Ellen Grossfeldt) is a zoo keeper, primate husbandry specialist and conservationist, based in Australia. For over 20 years, she worked with primates at Sydney's

Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'. It ...

. In 2015, Lou commenced work as a curator at

Mogo Zoo Mogo Wildlife Park (formerly Mogo Zoo) is a small privately owned zoo in Mogo, on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. Description Mogo is a member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association and has had success in breeding programs for ...

on the New South Wales South Coast. In 2017 she became

's Manager Life Sciences. In January 2019, she was appointed as the Manager of Primates at

Sydney Zoo Sydney Zoo is a zoo in Bungarribee in the Western Sydney Parklands, in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Sydney Zoo is located west of the Sydney central business district. It occupies a site. Sydney Zoo is a member of the ...

in Western Sydney. As part of her husbandry work, Grossfeldt has held positions including Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) Coordinator for New World monkeys and a regional stud book keeper for

western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

and Black-and-white ruffed lemur.

Conservation Work

Grossfeldt has served as Vice President of

Borneo Orangutan Survival The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit non-governmental organization founded by Dr. Willie Smits in 1991 and dedicated to the conservation of the endangered Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') and its habit ...

Australia. She has worked around the world on primate husbandry and conservation projects, with organisations including Jane Goodall Institute and the Endangered Primate Centre in the

Cúc Phương National Park Cúc Phương National Park ( vi, Vườn quốc gia Cúc Phương) is located in Ninh Bình Province, in Vietnam's Red River Delta. Cuc Phuong was Vietnam's first national park and is the country's largest nature reserve. The park is one of the ...

. In 2013, to honour her ongoing efforts to save the Borneo

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

, technicians of

Samboja Lestari Samboja Lestari is a Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') rescue and rehabilitation centre, tropical rainforest restoration project, sun bear sanctuary, and eco-lodge located in the town of Samboja in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, owned and operat ...

named an orphaned baby orang after Grossfeldt. Local people believe naming a baby orang after a special person will give the infant extra spirit and a will to live.

Media and publishing

As a member of the Taronga Zoo team, Grossfeldt's work was featured on television programs including ''

Totally Wild ''Totally Wild'' is an Australian children's television series which premiered on Network 10 on 12 July 1992. The series aired on 10 Peach from 2013 to 2020, and 10 Shake from 2020 to 2021. It had a current affairs program format, and did stor ...

'', '' The Project'', ''The Zoo'' and ''Wildlife at the Zoo''. In 2013, Grossfeldt and the work of

Foundation were featured on ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

''. In 2015, Grossfeldt co-authored the book Our Primate Family, with writer David Blissett. The foreword for the book was written by primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace Dr

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best know ...

. Grossfeldt's work is also regularly featured in print media and on radio, especially ABC Radio (Australia) and presenter

Richard Glover (radio presenter) Richard Glover is an Australian talk radio presenter, journalist and author. He is best known as presenter of the drive program on 702 ABC Sydney. His book ''Flesh Wounds'' was voted one of the top five books of 2015 by viewers of ABC television's ...

. In March 2016, Grossfeldt was featured on an ABC Kid's podcast "Short and Curly", discussing the subject: "should chimps have the same rights as kids?" In August 2021, Grossfeldt co-authored another book with David Blissett. Amanka Stories - Saving the Last Apes features contributions from conservationists, scientists, caregivers and advocates from around the globe, including

Vanessa Woods Vanessa Woods (born 1977) is an Australian science writer, author and journalist, and is the main Australian/New Zealand feature writer for the Discovery Channel. A graduate of the Australian National University with a Master's degree in Scien ...

References

External links

Taronga.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossfeldt, Louise Australian zoologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)