VET MEDICINE ON THE WILD SIDE

Wherever a wild animal needs support, our veterinary team is there to help, whether it’s responding to an emergency out in the field or conducting life-changing operations from the clinic at our Wildlife Centre.

Take our Wildlife Emergency Response Unit (WERU) as an example. Working in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife – and thanks to support from the Born Free Foundation and the Olsen Animal Trust – WERU works on the frontline of conservation, providing life-saving support to wildlife across Malawi. This includes everything from removing a poacher’s snare from an elephant to putting a collar on a lion so that park management can monitor its movements.

Our wildlife vets are supported by a wider team of rehabilitation and welfare experts who work tirelessly to give rescued animals a fighting chance at life back in the wild.

You can see our team in action by watching the #MalawiWildlifeRescue documentary. Details on transmission dates throughout the North America, MENA, the EU, UK, Asia and now Malawi! too can be found on our LWT on TV page. Below are a few highlights from the show to give you an insight into vet medicine on the wild side!

In episode one, our Head Veterinarian Dr. Amanda Salb is called out to remove a snare from an elephant in Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve. After locating the wounded calf from the helicopter, Amanda darts the animal with expert precision and is then lowered to the ground to remove the painful wire while the animal is under sedation. Meanwhile, pilot Brad Reid takes to the skies again to keep the rest of the herd at a safe distance.

In episode four, Amanda and her colleagues get up close and personal with the Wildlife Centre’s resident hyena, Usiku, as they attempt to treat his flea-bitten ears. The team come up with a relatively straightforward solution – use a flea collar designed for domestic dogs. But fitting a collar to one of Africa’s most formidable predators is no mean feat. The team have to tread carefully to anaesthetise Usiku in order to carry out the procedure.

Episode five sees the team pull out all the stops to give a vervet monkey with a broken leg a chance at being released back into the wild. To perform the necessary surgery they have to travel to a partner clinic, which involves crossing the capital city in rush hour traffic with the monkey under anaesthetic. It’s a race against time but our vets manage to perform the complicated surgery and support the injured monkey to make a full recovery. 

To find out more about the team featured in our #MalawiWildlifeRescue documentary, visit out our LWT on TV page.

If you’re a vet student looking to gain experience of wildlife medicine in a conservation context, check out our Vet Externship or Wildlife Vet Medicine Course!