Participating in a wildlife veterinary technician program such as the one in Zimbabwe was an absolute dream come true. The game drives, snare sweeps, deworming, vaccination, feeding, counting, hours spent travelling, monitoring, touring, interacting with the locals, and taking in every moment was more than I had thought was possible during the two weeks spent in Zimbabwe and would absolutely love to go back to help more wildlife.
Having the opportunity to speak with local veterinarians to compare medical protocols in Zimbabwe versus America was such an enlightening experience. While this helped me realize how far ahead American veterinary medicine is in comparison, I learned to be grateful for what we have access to in order to help the patients. The difference that access leads to how medicine is performed was a fascinating comparison to be made across multiple conversations.
There is one area for improvement that I can think of. Other than the trip being entirely too short, having more access to the two main languages to learn some local language before going would have been helpful. Though we did not need to know the local languages to do administer medicine to the animals, this may have heled with the language barrier between us and the locals.
– Arienne , SPC Zimbabwe Vet Tech Program, June 2022

One experience that will always stick with me while on our trip was being able to work on hyenas. The conservation we were staying at had three hyena residents. We were able to help move them to a new enclosure, vaccinate, draw blood and reverse them. Even though not everyone got to do something like pull blood, just being there and working hands on was amazing. We were able to learn things along the way as these are not normal animals we work with in clinics. Learning what their heart rate and respiratory rate parameters should be at and weirdly the female genitalia was interesting to say the least (not something I will forget). Working hands on along side wild animals like that pushed me to realize that going that route in my career is an option and how happy it made me to be a part of that experience. It was a one and a lifetime chance for us to be able to do that and I’m so glad we had the opportunity. Our trip in general and not just the hyenas really changed my mindset and career path options. If anyone gets the chance to do a program like this they definitely should.
– Katelyn , SPC Zimbabwe Vet Tech Program, June 2022