Reports from the Field

Year-round, our field veterinarians pack their doctors’ bags and head into the wild to check the pulse – often literally – of the world’s wildlife. This section is the next-best thing to going with them – check here often for our vets’ latest Reports from the Field.

Blue Iguana Project 3-04-04 While endangered megafauna-tigers, gorillas, whales-capture hearts and headlines, lesser-known creatures such as the blue iguana (Cyclura nubila lewisi) edge slowly toward extinction, unnoticed. This rare iguana, indigenous only…Read More

Bird Health Survey in Peru, December 2003 1-02-04 Dr. Karina Muñoz Duran, one of the 2003 recipients of the Field Veterinary Program’s Small Grant Awards, has been working with migratory and resident birds in the Protected Area of…Read More

Forest Elephant Project in Central Africa 12-05-03 Since President Omar Bongo of Gabon signed a decree establishing 13 new national parks in his country last year, conservation minds have been focusing on the considerable biodiversity that these…Read More

Gorilla Health Program - Spring 2003 Update 10-17-03 Since the late 1990s, the Field Veterinary Program (FVP) has been leading the Preventive Health Program for Free-ranging Lowland Gorillas in key areas throughout Central Africa. In these forests, gorillas…Read More

Small Cats in Argentina 2003 10-15-03 In May 2003, FVP field veterinarian Dr. Marcela Uhart traveled to Lihue Calel National Park in central Argentina to continue a long-term conservation project studying the ecology and health status…Read More

Seabirds in the Falkland Islands 6-18-03 Since November 2002, tens of thousands of magnificent seabirds in the Falkland Islands (located in the South Atlantic approximately 300 miles east of the Argentina coast) have died.  Mortalities have…Read More

Carnivores in Bolivia 6-13-03   In November, veterinarian and PhD candidate Christine Fiorello traveled once again to the Bolivian Chaco, where she continued her study of wild carnivore diseases in collaboration with the Field…Read More

Vizcacha in Argentina 1-16-03 During the third year of the FVP’s Wildlife Health Fund, a re-grant program designed to promote professional development for foreign wildlife veterinarians, the FVP was able to sponsor several projects,…Read More

Russian Crisis Response Team, 2002 11-01-02 In order to help Russian wildlife managers cope with the dangerous situation created when wild Siberian tigers and bears come into proximity with humans, WCS’s Field Veterinary Program (FVP) just…Read More

Saint Vincent Parrots, 2002 11-01-02 In July, Dr. Sharon Deem and Ms. Emily Ladwig, a senior bird keeper at the Bronx Zoo, traveled to Saint Vincent Island, the largest island in the nation of Saint…Read More

Sea Turtles off the Georgia Coast, 2002 11-01-02 In early July, Dr. Sharon Deem returned to Brunswick, Georgia, to work with Dr. Terry Norton, WCS veterinarian for Saint Catherine’s Island, and Dr. Al Segars, a veterinarian working for…Read More