It’s a Good Thing We’re Extroverts

Names: Rachel Wilson and Gabby McDonald 

Years: Classes of 2019 and 2020 

Hometowns: Zanesville, OH and Germantown, MD 

Internship: Veterinary Research Interns 

Location: National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, in Pretoria, South Africa 

Approximate time frame: May 14th - May 27th

You know when you were a kid and your mom told you to clean your room because you’re having guests over, and you’re just thinking “Why? Is the party in my room?” and then you’re grumpy and don’t want to have visitors? That was us on Monday morning, after Gabby had to move into Rachel’s room to make space for the five additional guests who would be staying in the house with us during week two (Bear with us for a minute, it gets better!). 

A resident Southern Ground-hornbill!

The zoo was hosting a Southern Ground-hornbill Workshop, with the intention of working out guidelines and regulations to help the South African government. It is important that everyone is on the same page when making decisions about the ground-hornbill, especially because they are considered vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN. But you knew that, right?). While many of the conference attendees stayed off-site, there were five who joined us here at the house. 

First, we met Tim around 5:00 pm, who'd been up since 4:00 am driving his motorcycle the entire way here. Then there was Alf, the funky barber from London who has traveled the world. Now, he basically has Gabby's dream job, doing field research. Rob from Cape Town enjoyed watching cricket and was kind enough to help us get our lights fixed after a night of chatting in the dark (with cricket on the TV of course). Arriving the next day were Evans, who was quite reserved but had amazing stories about the intelligence of elephants, and Merlyn, who was quite funny and has been to Pennsylvania (and hated all the fast food except for Subway). On Wednesday evening, Prof hosted a braai (like a barbeque), where we were introduced to many of the other conference attendees (spoiler: we met the lady who gave us new projects). What a great networking opportunity! 

The view from the zoo's cable car!

One morning we helped one of the vet nurses Sabbath, with vaccinations and sampling of the Southern Ground-hornbills. After hearing many stories from the professionals, it was exciting to get a closer look at them the very same week. They are extremely intelligent with individual personalities! We grew fond of our guests, learning a lot about the different opportunities and realities of field work. Despite our initial hesitance, when Friday rolled around, we were sad to see our guests leave. 

After spending the weekend dreaming of marrying a prince, the next week settled back into a routine. Tracy, the Director of Conservation (who Prof had introduced us to at the braai) gave us a couple of small projects regarding conservation efforts and welfare analysis at the zoo. Throughout the week we helped scribe for the health exams of two ring-tailed lemurs, a warthog, and even a lion-tailed macaque. We also helped weigh and move a group of baby tortoises to a new enclosure! 

The weekend brought a trip out of the zoo with Jamey to get food from a café, as well as tasty gelato. Things in Africa are a lot different than home, so it is taking a bit of adaptation. But, we are lucky enough to have met amazing people who are willing to show us the ropes! 

After we spent the day with Sabbath,
she brought us a giant avo from Limpopo!

Lunch with Jamey and Hasita! Forgive us for using straws, they were already in the glasses.