MARK HAGEN'S BIOGRAPHY


Mark Hagen is the Director of Research at Rolf C. Hagen Inc. and the Hagen Avicultural Research Institute (HARI). He earned his Master of Agriculture Degree at the University of Guelph, specializing in Psittacine Aviculture. During the course of obtaining his Bachelor of Science, Mark concentrated on nutrition and zoology and attended a semester at the University of California, Davis, taking courses in cage bird medicine, nutrition and avian science.

He later gained hands-on experience while housing birds indoors for five years in a converted warehouse. He founded HARI in 1985 in idyllic Rigaud, Quebec and applied his practical avian design knowledge to create a state-of-the-art facility. Over the course of the next 25 years, HARI gained a worldwide reputation for its ongoing studies into captive breeding, maintenance and nutrition of companion birds. Current areas of study include disease control, pair bonding, nutrition, early parrot education, and the influence of temperature, humidity and light cycles on breeding.

A firm believer in sharing his knowledge and experiences, he has published dozens of papers relating to the work at HARI, including egg incubation, oil and nutrition, formulated diets, husbandry and sanitation disease control, cage design, ventilation, and pediatric care. Many of his papers have been presented at most of the avicultural conferences held in the USA, Canada and Australia.

To mark its 25th anniversary, Mark and his team at HARI opened a new division dedicated to the long-term study of the health of reptiles and small animals with a strong focus on exploring new alternatives for dealing with common health concerns that the veterinarian community sees with species found in captivity.

Mark has also been deeply involved in supporting the avian community, providing personal as well as Hagen funding to a variety of organizations, including The World Parrot Trust, Loro Parque Foundation, and Parrots International. He also coordinates Tropican food donations to parrot shelters around the world.

With conservation being one of his main passions, Mark travels widely around the world to directly experience birds in their natural habitat to ascertain ways of improving preservation. He has personally seen over 50 parrot species where they occur on most continents.

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