Taylor Lindquist

Vets Go Wild is a 16-day course focusing on African wildlife conservation located on the Amakhala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The program combines veterinary science, wildlife management, and conservation field training. This course gives students the opportunity to obtain practical experience in wildlife procedures and operations which is essential for practicing conservation medicine, especially outside the states.

The program is led by Dr. William Fowlds who is a veterinarian and co-founder of Amakhala Game Reserve. Candice Momberg is the amazing veterinary technician that helps teach students practical skills. The program includes lectures on various topics like anesthesia, pharmacology, relationships between animals and habitat management, health and welfare issues associated with captive conditions, capture techniques, diseases relevant to African wildlife, and protected area systems & economics to name a few. I got to spend my 16 days with an amazing group of women from the UK and the states. I really enjoyed meeting vet students and vets from other places and to share this unique experience with. We also had the best guides Mali and Melumzi that took us on our game drives, helped transport us safely to other reserves and locations, and taught us about the culture. Every day we went on an amazing game drive and learned about behaviors, different species, identification, types of plants, and so much more. It is truly incredible to see all these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.

We had many procedure days, starting with a dehorning and re-placing a tracking collar on a white rhino. Some of the other procedures we did included species like lions, red hartebeest, nyala, sable, buffalo, giraffes, and a cheetah. Procedures were mainly for relocating, replacing or placing tracking collars, and disease testing with the goal of keeping the team and the animals safe. Along with our lectures and procedure days, we were able to go visit a local children’s home and have a community day in a local township, and give vaccines to small animals. These were some of the most eye-opening times for me and I learned so much about the people. We also got to visit Algoa Bay and Addo marine reserve (one of the most researched marine areas in the world). Some of the best whale sightings I have ever seen!

It is truly difficult to capture all the incredible things I experienced during this course in this short summary. I am very privileged and thankful I was able to take this course and learn so much about conservation medicine. Thank you to the amazing staff and team that make Vets Go Wild possible!