The team has been working hard for several weeks now! The first 3 weeks, the team went to Ranomafana, having hiked, bushwhacked and paddled in dug out canoes to bring veterinary care to some of the most remote villages in the region. But it was all worth it - 86 animals were spayed/neutered in three weeks.
The team was then joined by volunteers from around the world, and headed to Andasibe.
Volunteer Ali Wunderman describes what they experience is like:
"For the past two weeks the vet team has been spaying and neutering the cats and dogs of Andasibe, first getting permission from the town's leadership and then encouraging locals to bring their pets by via radio and word of mouth. Meanwhile the ecology field team has had great progress establishing camera traps throughout the forests surrounding Andasibe, looking for dogs and carnivores to pass by. All of this is happening in the context of the nutrition team determining what food locals are eating, so that all of this information can be collected holistically so we can understand the relationship between these seemingly disparate components. It's been really rewarding working with Malagasy locals to further their understanding of the importance of vaccines and spaying/neutering pets, all of which will hopefully reduce the impact domestic animals have on their wild counterparts. Two weeks to go in Andasibe!"
We want to send a huge THANK YOU out to all wonderful volunteers who are helping out this season!
- Jo Swindells (vet from Melbourne, Australia)
- Kaitlyn Brown and Shawna Ellis (Veterinary students from the Western Veterinary Medical College in Canada)
- Michon Martin (Vet student at Auburn University)
- Ali Wunderman (Vet tech and photojournalist)
- Annie Yang (Princeton undergrad assisting w/ bloodwork)
- Holly Parker (Auburn dietitian undergrad)
- Paola Lopez (Auburn dietitian undergrad)
- Cullen Anderson (Auburn wildlife ecology undergrad)
- Patricia Homonylo (photographer)
- Tsiky Rajaonarivelo (Malagasy veterinarian)
- Zoavana Randriana (Malagasy veterinarian)
We couldn't do this work without you!
