{"id":21197,"date":"2022-07-06T10:31:59","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T14:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/?p=21197"},"modified":"2025-12-17T12:48:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:48:24","slug":"spc-student-relives-the-zimbabwe-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/spc-student-relives-the-zimbabwe-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"SPC student relives the Zimbabwe Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“The African Dream is exactly what we lived. We hiked, we slept in canvas tents, we were immersed into the literal wilderness, exposed to the most dangerous predators, and I have never been happier in my entire life.
I never anticipated to have every single thought and belief uprooted and smashed going on this trip. I always had this idea of conservation and how it should be done in my head, but after speaking with countless knowledgeable individuals, I have found that it is truly grey.
In most circumstances, the poacher setting snares is trying to feed his family by catching antelope. They accidentally trap other animals.
The hunter coming to kill an elephant is paying thousands of dollars to cull an animal that has been deemed a problem, sick, injured, or in an overpopulated area. That money goes into hiring more guards to protect the species.
This is not to say that there aren\u2019t people doing either of these things unethically, but I had this black and white ideology that all poachers and hunters participating in these actions were scum. While I still do not necessarily agree with or like the situation, I have a more open understanding of these individuals.
I also see the damage that unethical or uneducated people create.
We had the opportunity to dart hyenas for medical care while staying at Fuller Forest in Victoria Falls. This experience was a dream. As a Registered Veterinary Technologist, myself and eight other students were able to draw blood, administer rabies vaccinations, sex check, and monitor anesthesia through TPRs on three hyenas.
The spotted hyena is considered endangered due to habitat loss and human persecution. Furthermore, procedures are not often done on hyenas, so this was a supremely unique circumstance to be able to put my hands on such a dangerous and endangered species.
This trip was humbling. Everything I ever knew was challenged and has ignited a new passion for wildlife conservation. I am now looking into pursuing further career opportunities in the field through veterinary forensics and chemical immobilization training. I hope to eventually change this African Dream I experienced into my new reality. “
\u2013 Bailey , SPC Zimbabwe Vet Tech Program, June 2022<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The African Dream is exactly what we lived. We hiked, we slept in canvas tents, we were immersed into the literal wilderness, exposed to the most dangerous predators, and I have never been happier in my entire life.I never anticipated to have every single thought and belief uprooted and smashed going on this trip. I … Continue reading SPC student relives the Zimbabwe Dream<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1966,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[40,7,24,886,967],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-study-abroad","category-travel","category-zimbabwe-vet-tech","category-zimbabwe-2027"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1966"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21199,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21197\/revisions\/21199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}