David McLelland received his BVSc from Sydney University in 2001, and did a BSc(Vet) in 2000 investigating an encephalomyocarditis vaccine in animals at Taronga Zoo. After two years in practice in Darwin he moved to Canada to undertake a DVSc residency in Zoo Medicine and Pathology at the University of Guelph and Toronto Zoo, which included research on the pharmacokinetics of antibiotics in tammar wallabies. Returning to the antipodes he worked briefly at Wellington Zoo and Werribee Open Range Zoo, then started with Zoos South Australia where he has been for seven years, working across Adelaide and Monarto Zoos. David became a Member of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Medicine of Zoo Animals in 2008, a Diplomat of the American College of Zoological Medicine in 2011, and in 2014 was accepted as a founding Diplomat of the European College of Zoological Medicine in Zoo Health Management