Alex Simpson

Alex Simpson is a content creator based at Hertfordshire Zoo, where he goes by @AlexTheZookeeper. With over thirteen years of professional experience as a zookeeper, Simpson has built a distinctive online presence by turning wildlife expertise into engaging, personality-driven content that both entertains and informs.

He excels at making complex conservation issues accessible, relatable, and funny to broad audiences, all while maintaining accuracy and authenticity.

While working as a keeper at a previous zoo, Simpson shared a 2024 video of a rhino calf bursting into a playful “zoomies” session. The clip quickly gained nearly 30 million views, revealing strong demand for genuine wildlife content that showcases individual animals’ personalities.

This viral moment sparked a new career, and he went on to become Hertfordshire Zoo's full-time content creator, making engaging videos for the zoo's social channels and his own platforms.

As a full-time, in-house, paid zoo influencer, he has taken on a pioneering role that is changing how modern zoos connect with audiences and encouraging a new generation to engage with wildlife and conservation through social media.

Whether he's documenting the unpredictable realities of working at a zoo or creating original wildlife content, Simpson has cultivated a highly engaged audience on Instagram and TikTok through a mix of humour and informative storytelling.

His acclaimed Pride Month series, LGBTZoo, explored 'the queer themes of the animal queendom,' garnering more than 900,000 views and reaching over 730,000 accounts.

"The series showcased his ability to tackle important topics with wit, confidence and originality, cementing his distinctive on-screen personality," said one nominator.

"By making conservation entertaining without ever losing credibility, Alex is inspiring new audiences to care about wildlife in a way that feels fresh, modern and genuinely exciting."