Program Overview

India: Interventions in Wild Animal Health

Course Overview

This course focuses on the practical skills required to work as a wildlife health professional in the field. Topics covered include wildlife population monitoring, field disease investigation, and best practice physical and chemical immobilization of wildlife.

Course Details

• An intensive 3-week field course, based in Rajasthan, India.
• Students receive a mixture of lecture-based and practical teaching elements, which includes trips to field sites, concluding with a multiple-choice examination and an assessed scientific presentation.

Dates and Cost

• Dates: 9 - 27 February 2026
• Cost: £3599
• Reduced fees are available for South Asian and East African nationals.

Payment Terms

• A 10% deposit is required to secure a place.
• The remainder can be paid in two equal installments, one before December and one before the end of January.

Topics Covered

• Wild animal population monitoring
• Wildlife health and field disease investigation
• Wildlife crime and forensic investigation
• Wild animal restraint and anesthesia
• Human-Wildlife Interface

About the Course

Participants will carry out a variety of practical and theoretical work, with many opportunities for hands-on learning experiences. Tuition is carried out in the field to develop skills in human-livestock-wildlife conflict management, disease outbreak investigation, forensic investigation, and monitoring of the health of declining species.

Eligibility

• This course is available to qualified veterinarians.
• In some circumstances, veterinary students in their final clinical years of study may be considered.

Impact

Many wildlife diseases are relatively unstudied and unchecked, highlighting the need for greater expertise in, and greater numbers of, wildlife health professionals to tackle them. Such professionals are needed to undertake interventions in the health, welfare, and conservation of wild animals, to investigate emerging infectious diseases, and to ensure human well-being.

Organizing Institutions

The course is run by the Zoological Society of London, the Wildlife Institute of India, the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Veterinary College, and the University of Melbourne, recognizing the need to conserve globally important biodiversity.