PhD, BVSc, MSc, MANZCVSc (Avian Health; Wildlife Medicine), Cert IV Captive Animal Management, Cert IV Animal Control and Regulation, Cert IV Workplace training and Assessment, Veterinarian
Dr Annabelle Olsson is a female Veterinarian.
Annabelle has always had a passion (many say obsession) with all creatures great and small. She began caring for wildlife as a child growing up on the northern outskirts of Sydney. Veterinary Science was a natural progression. She has worked in rural and suburban practice, but found her perfect balance in far north Queensland in the late 80s.
She has advanced training and experience in avian, reptile and wildlife medicine, having been admitted to the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists by rigorous examination in two chapters, Avian Health and Wildlife Medicine & Husbandry, and having a high professional case load of pet birds, reptiles and other unusual or exotic pets.
Annabelle is regularly consulted on forensic medicine and provides expert evidence on a variety of matters. She undertakes national and international consultancies including crocodile farms and zoos, as well as established conservation projects. Some of these include crocodile monitoring on Cape York and cassowary ecology in the Wet Tropics (with QPWS), macaque management and control for the Invasive Species Network in Micronesia, tiger conservation programmes in Thailand, cassowary monitoring in West Papua, and lecturing on Wildlife Medicine and Conservation Biology in Galapagos.
Annabelle has a strong research focus. Her Masters (in tropical ecology and veterinary science) produced original research on aging data and health parameters in free-living spectacled flying foxes, and her PhD on anaesthesia in estuarine crocodiles has had international impact on crocodile welfare and management. She has been published in textbooks and peer reviewed journals, and regularly presents at clinical and research focussed conferences around the world. She also trained in Guam with the Durrell Institute on island species-led conservation initiatives.
Annabelle has assisted in setting up and managing indigenous animal health programmes in many Cape York communities, and is involved in training and mentoring of animal management officers. As well as the privilege of assisting remote communities to develop self-sustaining animal health initiatives, she has the bonus of observing such amazing wildlife as palm cockatoos, 5 metre crocodiles, marine turtles and countless other species in their natural habitat while working in what she describes as the most beautiful consulting room in the world!
