Nsikazi Wildlifevets Experience
Work with an established wildlife veterinary team in Africa
Immerse yourself in the world of wildlife veterinary work in the stunning bushveld of South Africa. Participate in veterinary conservation medicine, chemical captures, veterinary research and development and assist in reducing the conflict between local communities and wildlife through veterinary intervention.
Join the veterinary team at Wildlifevets.com and help achieve their mission: To apply their veterinary background, experience and networks to contribute and enhance global wildlife conservation through active involvement in all aspects of wildlife management.
- Clinical veterinary work at resident clinic and in the field
- Game capture
- Chemical captures using various darting methods
- Nsikazi community project, reducing disease transmission from wildlife to local community livestock
- Veterinary research and disease control
Conservation Value
Veterinary work is essential to the preservation and protection of rare and endangered species endemic to Africa. The mobile community livestock work involved at the Nsikazi Project, is vital to reduce the conflict between local communities and wildlife, and assist in the reduction of disease transmission from wildlife.
Working with black rhino
Much of the volunteering team's work during 2011 involved de horning black and white rhino to reduce the incident of poaching on the reserves. Volunteers assist with intra-venous drips, anaesthesia and DNA kits for each rhino.
Giraffe capture
A lot of the wildlife veterinary work is associated with game capture
Buffalo capture
Buffalo are another common species for capture, and most volunteers work with buffalo at some point.
Darting wildlife
Most vet assisted game captures require the use of darting.
Injecting lion
Dr Raath teaches a student how to inject a lion.
Ear notching
A common case when working with rhinos is ear notching, whereby the rhino is being marked as accounted for.
Rhino work
Volunteers with Nsikazi often work with rhinos
Elephant work
Giraffe skin sampling
Volunteers assist with skin scrapes from a giraffe suffering with a possible fungal skin disease - samples are taken for analysis back at the Wildlifevets clinic.
Wild dogs
Wildlife veterinary work can even involve working with very elusive species, such as African wild dog.
Cheetah
Volunteers getting up close to a cheetah
Crocodile lecture
Volunteers learning about crocs
Crocodile treatment
Africa House
The volunteer accommodation with Nsikazi
Volunteer house lounge
Work with the wildlife
Working alongside Wildlifevets.com and their highly qualified team, you will be exposed to many elements of wildlife veterinary work including a fascinating new venture, Nsikazi Project, to render minimum disease risk and reduce wildlife and human conflict at the interface between wildlife conservation parks and the local community.
Join one of the most well known and respected wildlife vets in Africa, with experience of working in the world famous Kruger National Park and resident game capture team and assist in the following activities:
Clinical veterinary work at resident clinic and in the field
- You may assist with community veterinary services and wildlife veterinary work in the field, including wildlife intoxication cases. The team also frequently assist in forensic work on carcasses of poached animals.
Game capture
- The veterinary team are specialists in the chemical immobilisation of wildlife. Other capture techniques are also utilised and include mass capture, passive capture, net capture and humane trapping and baiting.
- As a volunteer you will assist both the veterinarians and highly trained and dedicated game capture team, learning the use of specialised equipment.
Nsikazi community project
- Wildlifevets.com assist the local state veterinarian in various community projects, which include assistance at dip tanks and vaccination of dogs in rabies campaigns. In collaboration with the State Veterinary department, in the local Nsikazi district community, this programme will provide a clinical service and management input to the cattle breeders at the diptanks.
- The area adjacent to the Kruger National Park and plays an important role in conservation medicine at the interface between livestock and wildlife. You will be working with livestock herds at 52 dip tanks to reduce the transmission and spread of various diseases such as TB.
Chemical captures using various darting methods
- Assist with the darting of endangered, rare and highly valuable species and learn about various drugs used in such procedures.
Veterinary research and disease control
- You will join the team in clinical trials on wildebeest and other species, and disease testing of various species in breeding projects.
Hear from other volunteers who've visited Nsikazi Wildlifevets Experience
Siddarth Sudunagunta, Volunteer 2011I graduated as a vet in July 2011 from the Royal Veterinary College in London. Despite wanting to work with small animals, it was an initial fascination with wildlife (and dinosaurs) that initially made me want to become a vet. I really wanted a chance to work with wildlife, just for a short period, so I could have an idea of what it entailed, and hopefully get an adventure out of it! I booked my placement with ACE about a year in advance, telling them that I would be a qualified vet (hopefully!) and they arranged for me to join the Nsikazi project. So it was, that 10 days after graduating I was on a plane to Johannesburg, where I, along with several other volunteers, were met by Martin Borman who drove me to the placement. During my 8 weeks I was lucky enough to work with a huge range of animals, from tracking lions and elephants, to disease control in buffalo, to treating wounds on antelope and ostrich. The majority of the work undertaken while I was there involved dehorning rhino, so as to prevent them from being poached. While it is such a shame that the modern world dictates that this is necessary, it was very fulfilling to be involved in a process which has been proven to help reduce the number of rhinos poached. Without a doubt, my favourite activity was capturing giraffe, to move them from one reserve to another. This involved chasing after them, tying them up and leading them into trailers, all the while trying not to get kicked, or having to hurl onself into a thorn bush to avoid being trampled! Add in hurtling around game reserves clinging on to the back of a jeep and it made for an incredibly fun and exciting day. I could go on and on about my 8 weeks there, and all the volunteers I met could surely do the same. Suffice it to say I had a fantastic time, and would love to get a chance to go back one day. I would absolutely recommend this project to anyone with an interest in wildlife veterinary medicine.