Vets Go Wild - South Africa

Product Details

If you are looking for a hands-on veterinary experience and need to fulfil some Extra Mural Studies then Vets Go Wild is the perfect programme for you.

Amakhala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, is the setting for our brand new 16-day module for students undertaking veterinary courses at selected UK universities.

The objective of the programme is to conduct theoretical and practical training focused on the role of veterinary science in the context of African wildlife conservation and utilisation.

Principle partners involved with Vets Go Wild:

Addo National Elephant Park: 260,000-acre conservation area famous for its elephants but fast becoming recognised as one of the most ecologically diverse national parks in the World.

Amakhala Private Game Reserve: 15,600-acre wildlife reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Scenically beautiful with diverse vegetation and a diversity of fauna to match, including the 'Big Five'.

Shamwari Game Reserve: 45,000 acre wildlife reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Scenically beautiful with diverse vegetation and a diversity of fauna to match, including the 'Big Five'.

Bayworld Oceanarium, Port Elizabeth

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University - Centre for African Conservation Ecology

Additional add-on excursions

(Costs can be supplied on request and are dependant on the size of the group.)

- Helicopter darting exercise
- Black rhino expedition
- Bio-diversity hotspots expedition
- Marine and coastal dune systems

Course start dates

Course 1: 7 July - 22 July 2008
Course 2: 28 July - 12 August 2008
Course 3: 18 August - 2 September 2008
Course 4: TBA

A sample itinerary for this programme follows.

Itinerary

This is included as an example. Due to practical arrangements surrounding animals, the course content and order may vary.

Day 1
Arrivals and transfers
Orientation around Hills Neck Camp and facilities
Course overview
Guided game drive
Opening dinner

Day 2 - Amakhala
Morning game walk
Lectures: Basic wildlife conservation principles
Introduction to practical conservation management
Re-introductions and sustainable utilisation
Afternoon game drive

Day 3 - Amakhala
Sunrise solitaire
Lectures: Relationships between animals and habitat management
An overview of the veterinary role in conservation
Equipment and drugs relevant to veterinary wildlife
Practical on darting and darting practise
Evening into night drive

Day 4 - Shamwari
Bush breakfast and transfer to Shamwari
Introduction to Shamwari wildlife department
Practical demonstration of capture techniques used in antelope
Overview of reserve management structures and principles

Day 5 - Shamwari
Visit to the Born Free Centre on Shamwari
Talk on role of the foundation in the rescue and care of African wildlife
Tour around the centre and facilities
Discussion on health and welfare issues associated with captive conditions

Day 6 - Shamwari
Game drive on the reserve
Focus on specific species and management issues
Mega herbivore and predator issues in management

Day 7 - Amakhala
Game drive and river cruise on the Bushmans River
Lectures: Veterinary pharmacology and case study examples
Basic capture techniques
Immobilisation practical
Technology in conservation
Practical diurnal telemetry tracking on AGR

Day 8 - Addo National Elephant Park
Transfer to Addo
Overview of park management and policies
Different approaches of national parks compared to private game reserves
Visit to animal holding bomas and discussion
Hand rearing of rhino and buffalo

Day 9 - Amakhala
Early morning canoeing on Bushmans River
Lectures: Diseases relevant to African wildlife
The role of parasites and disease in nature
The monitoring and control of disease

Day 10 - Amakhala
Early morning walk
Lectures: Protected area systems and economics
Alternative ways to utilise wildlife
Biodiversity issues and extinction processes
Night drive: telemetry on nocturnal species

Day 11 - Marine and coastal management
Transfer to Port Elizabeth
Visit to Port Elizabeth Oceanarium
Practical blood sampling of marine mammals
Marine excursion into Algoa Bay and Addo marine reserve

Day 12 - Surrounding reserves
A comparative look at different conservation models and ecosystems
Exercise in adaptive management plans for predators
Practical excursion covering geology and significant paleontology of area

Day 13 - Amakhala
Relocation and holding of animals
Stress factors in handling and containment
Drugs and facilities used to reduce stress
Pathology of stress related mortalities

Day 14 - Amakhala and surrounds
Socio-economic issues to consider in conservation of African ecosystems.
Participation in veterinary wildlife call-outs to take place at random times during the course.

Day 15 - Amakhala
Summary and key issue analysis
Game drive on AGR for field discussion
Appropriate capture techniques
Drug combinations and dosages
Course written examination
Sundowners on Amakhala
Course closing dinner

Day 16
Breakfast
Departures and transfers to Port Elizabeth