August 2025: Points of VIEW Newsletter
- Courtney Krone
- Sep 4
- 3 min read
From the Field: A Letter from Dr. Deborah McCauley
Dr. Charline Rutagengwa assisting with field procedures during her wildlife veterinary internship with Kenya Wildlife Service.
On the Ground with Kenya Wildlife Service
From May to July 2025, Dr. Charline Rutagengwa completed a three-month field internship with Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), gaining hands-on experience working with seasoned wildlife veterinarians. Her training focused on advanced field procedures including chemical immobilization, anesthesia monitoring, and multi-species clinical care. She participated in Eastern black rhino translocations, rhino ear notching and sample collection for disease surveillance, and treatment of various species including elephants, lions, Grevy’s zebras, giraffes, and other species. Dr. Rutagengwa also conducted postmortem examinations, collected forensic samples, and assisted in managing critical cases such as gunshot wounds, territorial fight injuries and predator attacks. This experience strengthened her technical skills and deepened her understanding of the complex challenges facing wildlife health and conservation in East Africa. We are grateful to Kenya Wildlife Service and Conservation Nation for making this vital training opportunity possible.
Transforming Gibbon Care Across Asia: Phase I Complete
We’ve completed Phase I of our project to improve gibbon health and veterinary capacity across Southeast Asia. Over the past year, VIEW and our partners collaborated with 21 rehabilitation centers in eight countries to close critical gaps in specialized veterinary care. Together, with on-the-ground teams we helped advance standardized health protocols, improve medical data management, and share best practices for clinical care to better support the safe rehabilitation and release of gibbons. These foundational steps are essential for building a network of skilled veterinarians and well-equipped centers capable of supporting long-term gibbon conservation.
So far this program onboarded 11 centers to a shared medical database, and delivered over $4,000 in diagnostic equipment and supplies. Additionally, helped strengthen local expertise by sponsoring 10 early-career veterinarians for hands-on internships, leading on-site training visits, and hosting global expert-led webinars. In partnership with IUCN’s Section on Small Apes, we also helped establish the Gibbon Health Working Group, which is shaping international guidelines for gibbon health.
These efforts are transforming how endangered gibbons receive care in southeast Asia. We are excited to start Phase II, where we’ll expand mentorship and training opportunities, launch the Gibbon Health Initiative website, and drive critical disease research to ensure more gibbons can return safely to the wild.
This project is made possible with support from the Arcus Foundation.
Dr. Jenn Yu and partners collect and process blood samples from Asian elephants to study the impact of EEHV, a deadly virus affecting young elephants.
Investigating Elephant Herpesvirus in Asia
VIEW is proud to support veterinarian and PhD student Dr. Jenn Yu as she advances her education and research on elephant health. Since April, field sampling activities have been ongoing in Asia. Since April, local project partners have been collecting blood samples from managed Asian elephants as part of a study led by Dr. Yu on elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) hemorrhagic disease (HD), a rapidly progressing and often fatal disease affecting young elephants. This study will uncover how widespread the disease is, evaluate its impact on a managed population, and help to identify potential risk factors for disease. This work was made possible with support from Morris Animal Foundation through a Wildlife Health Training Fellowship.
Donate Today
JOIN US IN PREVENTING EXTINCTION
Our mission is critical, and it requires the generous support of individuals and organizations who are passionate about preserving and protecting endangered wildlife. Your donation can make a lasting difference.
Comments