Image credit: Amber Wyard, ZSL

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“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I have never had this kind of opportunity in my life.”

In partnership with VetCT, we are delighted to have been able to make it possible for Nigerian vet, Dr Atuman Yakubu, to take part in this year’s Interventions in Wild Animal Health course in Kenya.

In a field of very strong candidates for this opportunity, Dr Atuman stood out thanks to his impressive commitment to teaching himself about wildlife health and implementing  disease surveillance measures, often with little access to support. He is passionate about sharing knowledge and fully committed to training future wildlife vets in Nigeria.

Correct field post mortem methods, which mean you can be confident of interpreting the results correctly, are a vital element in monitoring wildlife health; here Dr Atuman is working on a vulture carcass as part of the course, under the supervision of Dr Tony Sainsbury of ZSL.

We look forward very much to following his journey as he returns home to implement and pass on what he has learnt through his work with the National Veterinary Research Institute of Nigeria.

The IWAH course is run under the auspices of the Wildlife Health Bridge Consortium, which includes the Wildlife Institute of India, ZSL, The Royal Veterinary College (RVC), The University of Edinburgh The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies,  The University of Melbourne, The Toronto Zoo and the Wildlife Research & Training Institute Kenya. A special mention also goes to the Kenya Wildlife Service, Watamu, which has played a crucial role in the planning and delivery of this year’s course, which is being held in Africa for the first time.

Find out about IWAH here: https://iwah.org/#about The practical course is part of the Wildlife Health Bridge’s wider initiative to build the in-country wildlife health capacity of vets working in biodiverse regions, which aligns perfectly with WVI’s aims.

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