Research into the abnormal behaviour of tigers, giraffes, gorillas and elephants in zoos could be funded by crowdsourcing after a plea from a Kingston University student.

Media and Cultural studies student Nanna Påskesen is making a documentary called Zoochosis – a term coined by Bill Travis about the obsessive and repetitive behaviours of animals held in captivity.

But the 23-year-old has made a short video to help people understand her aims and is asking for £500 within the next 30 days to help kick-start her project.

Miss Påskesen, of Saxon Close in Surbiton, who grew up on a farm in Denmark, said: “I contacted London Zoo and they wanted a lot of money for an interview so I thought what am I going to do I’m a poor student?

“It was my supervisor’s idea to make a kickstart video. I filmed the video on my own in two days.

“I have had a longstanding passion for animals. I always wanted to be a vet but I was never really good with science stuff so I thought why not go the creative way and see if I can help animals in this way?”

She said she was inspired over the summer when she watched a documentary called Black Fish which featured her favourite animal – the killer whale.

On the first day Zoochosis went online, Miss Påskesen managed to collect £83.

All the money will help pay for transport and entry fees to zoos such as Chessington World of Adventures, access to copyrighted material and to carry out interviews with zookeepers and researchers as well as pay for a website.

To see her project visit kickstarter.com/projects/711000852/zoochosis-a-short-documentary.

 

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