Karen Fifield has been the chief executive of Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo since 2006 and is a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit MNZM for services to Business and Animal Welfare. She is the current president of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). Fifield previously chaired the WAZA Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee and WAZA’s Environmental Sustainability Sub Committee, where she was the editor of the Protecting Our Planet global strategy, the Carbon Reduction Guide and the Sustainable Forest Use Guide. She has also been the President of the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia.
Fifield was recognised as one of the Power 10 Zoo & Aquarium blooloop 50 Influencers in 2023.
Wellington Zoo was the first Toitū carbon zero-certified zoo in the world and won the WAZA inaugural Environmental Sustainability Award in 2018.
She won the 2009 HER Business Wellington award for outstanding business leadership and sustainability and the 2010 HER Business NZ National award for outstanding business leadership. Fifield was the 2010 Wellingtonian of the Year in the Environment category and was a finalist in both the 2014 and 2015 Westpac/Fairfax Media NZ Women of Influence Awards in the Social Enterprise category and the Board and Management category, respectively.