Matt James

Matt James is a leader in exotic animal care with more than fifteen years of experience in animal care and welfare. He joined Colossal in 2022 as Chief Animal Officer where he leads the animal operations team to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of Colossal’s animals.  Matt develops and implements effective strategies for animal welfare, conservation, and education.

In October 2024, Matt was named Executive Director of the newly established Colossal Foundation, the non-profit arm of Colossal dedicated to supporting the use of cutting-edge technologies to conservation efforts globally to help prevent extinction of keystone species. Through the foundation, Colossal provides support to empower a large selection of partners in the field to reverse the extinction crisis.

Matt previously worked as the Senior Director of Animal Care for large zoological institutions such as the Dallas Zoo and Zoo Miami where he had the opportunity to manage over 7,000 animals representing more than 500 species, while also maintaining their accreditation standards with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). He has managed, cared for, bred, and translocated a large variety of animals including elephants, rhinos, and other mega-vertebrates. Understanding the necessity for collaboration and perpetuating his passion for conservation, Matt previously held several positions within the AZA organization such as serving on the Taxon Advisory Groups for Elephants, Rhinos, and Antelope & Giraffid, and managed the Species Survival Plans for Red River Hogs, Yellow-backed Duikers, and Giraffe.In addition to acting as an accreditation inspector.

Matt has a Bachelors of Science from Doane University where he majored in Biology and Chemistry as well as an MBA from the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. He is based in Dallas, Texas.