7:30 am: Breakfast and pack luggage for departure
8:30-9:45 am: Village Wrap-up Discussion
Leader: Val Beasley
We were given time to provide feedback and discuss any thoughts or questions resulting from the presentations, village visits or labs. Beasley did a great job of tying all of the topics together and emphasizing the importance of what we have been learning about.
10:00 am: Travel from Tungamalenga to Ruaha National Park Headquarters
11:30 pm: Arrive Ruaha NP & settle into lodgings (Park bandas and guest house)
12:30 pm: Lunch
1:30 pm: Welcome to Ruaha National Park
Presenter: William Mwakilema, Chief Park Warden
I fell asleep during this lecture…
2:00-3:15 pm: Conservation and Management of Ruaha National Park
Presenter: Ole Meing’ataki, Chief Ecologist, Ruaha National Park, TANAPA
Meing’ataki, an Envirovet 2009 alumnus, introduced us to the reasons why Ruaha National Park is so significant from a conservation standpoint. The current ecosystem health issues, expansion of the park, plans for tourism growth, and management challenges were all discussed.
3:15 pm: Tea
4:00-6:30 pm: Evening Game Drive
We got a chance to see some of the amazing wildlife diversity of Ruaha. Some of the species seen include: Impala, zebra, giraffe, elephant, lion, hippo, and rock hyrax. The highlight of our drive was when we got very close to an elephant and it decided it wanted to scare us off. The drivers were quite nervous and had to get us out of there quite quickly…
7:00 pm: Dinner
7:30-8:30 pm: Wildlife Health in Ruaha National Park
Presenter: Epaphras Alex Muse, Veterinarian, Ruaha National Park
Alex, an Envirovet 2008 alumnus, presented an overview of his responsibilities as veterinarian for Ruaha, and described the current health concerns in the park’s wildlife. He described his ongoing parasite monitoring and research to elucidate the cause and impact of a novel skin disease in giraffe. He prepared us for the next morning’s field (surveying giraffe for skin disease).
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