Asian Elephant Support is fortunate to be able to work with two very talented and dedicated veterinarians: Dr. Christopher Stremme and Dr. Arun Zachariah.
Dr. Stremme teaches at the Veterinary College of Unisyah University in Banda Aceh, Sumatra-Indonesia and he invited Dr. Zachariah to visit the University from September 23-25, 2016. Dr. Zachariah is a senior veterinary officer with the Kerala Department of Forests and Wildlife, as well as an assistant Professor for wildlife studies at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences Universsity, Pookode, India. He is also a leading scientist on EEHV in wild and captive elephants in Asia and specializes in wildlife disease ecology and genetics.
The first day included meetings and informal discussions between Dr. Zachariah, the Dean of the Veterinary College, several professors, and lecturers. They discussed EEHV and several other wildlife diseases, their potential impact, and their importance for endangered species conservation. In addition, Dr. Zachariah visited the College’s laboratory facilities and gave advice on how it could be utilized for different wildlife disease studies.
On the second day, Dr. Zachariah conducted a seminar on wild Asian elephant and tiger diseases. The topics included:
- Wildlife disease ecology and their conservation impact
- Current and emerging diseases in wild Asian elephants and tigers
- Post mortem procedures in Asian elephants and tigers
The seminar was attended by a total of 67 participants including veterinary students, Veterinary College lecturers, professors, and BKSDA (Nature Conservation Agency- Indonesia) veterinarians.
AES strongly believes in collaboration between individuals and facilities dedicated to helping elephants! Being able to help fund the work of veterinarians such as Dr. Stremme and Dr. Zachariah is possible because of your support. Our thanks to you for helping to make such efforts possible!