About Dr. David Jones

Dr. David M. Jones is a veterinarian and zoologist by training and for 12 years has been Director of the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro, a division of the State’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He was previously CEO of the Zoological Society of London and has spent his entire career, approaching 40 years, in the wildlife and zoo management field.

Dr. Jones attended the Royal Veterinary College in London. He has degrees in animal Physiology and Veterinary Science, is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and a Fellow of the Institute of Biology.

In the 1970s and 1980s particularly, he had extensive involvement in the planning, construction, and management of many zoos, zoo parks, and wildlife areas particularly in Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and southern Asia. He was responsible for a range of fieldwork in Africa, the Middle East, China, and Sri Lanka.

He has been on the Councils of both World Wildlife Fund U.S. and U.K. and was a former Chairman of Fauna and Flora International. Currently, he is a member of the Species Committee of WWF U.S. He also was Chairman of one of the world’s largest international animal welfare organizations, the Brooke Hospital for Animals.

Currently, he is Chairman of the Yadkin Pee Dee Lakes Project, the principal non-governmental economic development group for the rural counties of central North Carolina and is on a range of conservation-related boards in the State including Audubon and Environmental Defense.

Dr. David Jones has published over 100 scientific papers, mainly on veterinary subjects, zoo management, and wildlife conservation and has given keynote lectures on conservation topics to major conferences around the world. He is listed in Who’s Who (UK), Who’s Who in America, and Debrett’s People of Today.

He has a special interest in the need to make environmental concerns relevant to peoples’s everyday lives and to show the close connection between our environment and economy.