After spending about a week working with wildlife, my classmates and I were moved over to the elephant schedule. We were very excited, but a tad hesitant. We were given the down low on how the days were from our other classmates, which gave us a little more preparation. We heard that the days were … Continue reading SPC Students Working Hard in Thailand to Help Each Elephant Stay Mentally and Physically Healthy →

At WFFT, they have volunteers who come from all over the world, who stay anywhere from one week, to months, and even years. While we were there, the volunteers were coming and going pretty often, and I want to say there was only 40 volunteers at the time. The volunteer coordinator had mentioned that they … Continue reading SPC Study Abroad Students: Volunteers Living the Wild Life in Thailand! →

Another exciting opportunity we got to do while at the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand was to get a tour of the animal hospital that is fairly new to the sanctuary. Edwin who is the sanctuary owner was kind enough to give us the tour and he explained that how long it took him to … Continue reading Touring the Animal Hospital at the Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand →

After a delayed flight, a quick 3 hour sleep on the floor of a friend’s apartment in Brooklyn, a $50 Uber ride, and close to a full 24 hours of flying, I finally made it to Bangkok, Thailand, our study abroad destination. A trip across the world is a great way to test your travelling … Continue reading Arriving to Bangkok, our Study Abroad destination! →

In the final week of my elephant experience in Thailand I was able to work with the 19 elephants WFFT has. Some of our duties were cleaning, showering, and feeding them. One of the meals that were fed twice a day were something called ‘banana balls.’ These were mushed banana’s, bran, and pellets; this definitely … Continue reading Elephant Experience in Thailand with SPC Study Abroad →

During my time at WFFT I spent the first week spending time with the other wildlife. They had everything from monkeys to bears and even iguanas! Some of these animals I have never seen up close or even in real life! Every morning we had to chop fruit, give water, and clean enclosures. Honestly, most … Continue reading Wildlife Encounters on the SPC Thailand Study Abroad Program →

This trip was anything except a normal study abroad trip… this was my first time out of the United States and even my first time on a plane! It definitely was a little bit of a headache getting to our final destination; between delayed flights and late night hotel bookings. I was totally out of … Continue reading My First Time on a Plane with St. Petersburg College Study Abroad! →

Something that I knew I wanted to experience in Thailand was seeing elephants in their natural habitat. We were told that it was either hit or miss and with animals which are unpredictable we were hopeful that we could at least see one elephant. We started our adventure we got to see a monitor lizard … Continue reading SPC Students Watching Elephants in their Natural Habitat in Thailand! →

Several weeks ago I got an opportunity of a lifetime to go over 9,000 miles away from home to experience something that some people will never get the opportunity to experience. As part of the Work Experience class at the St. Petersburg College Veterinary Technology program we were able to go to Thailand and work … Continue reading St. Petersburg College Study Abroad: Opportunity of a Lifetime →

At WFFT they made enrichments for the elephants that went out into the enclosures at the end of the day so that they would have something to do for fun when no one was interacting with them. The definition of enrichment is an animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal … Continue reading Learning about Elephant Enrichments on SPC’s Vet Tech Study Abroad Program! →