OVAID Scholarship 2019
By Steve Unwin
27 November 2018 |Updated: 29 November 2018
Through the generosity of the late Bronwyn Watson, an Australian orangutan supporter, Orangutan Veterinary Aid has established a scholarship scheme to enable Indonesian and Malaysian veterinary surgeons working in the field of orangutan medicine, surgery and conservation to pursue further education to ultimately benefit the orangutan.
The scholarship’s varied and individually structured placements will enable bespoke training to meet the needs of individual veterinary candidates and, once completed will be expected to lead to a transfer of knowledge to colleagues resulting in up-skilling, capacity building and beneficial welfare increases for the orangutan in their care.
The scholarship training will be supported by the veterinary and conservation teams at Chester Zoo and coordinated by Steve Unwin as part of Chester Zoo's ongoing commitment to assist OVAG. It is hoped that this liaison will bring about a two-way exchange of ideas with the candidates imparting their practical knowledge and skills with orangutan whilst receiving additional training at Chester Zoo, Liverpool Veterinary School, Paignton Zoo and from specialist second opinion and wildlife practitioners within the UK.
The first two successful candidates, Pandu Wibisono from SOCP’s Jantho release site and Arga Kusuma from BOSF Nyaru Menteng will be travelling to the UK in 2019
Link to OVAID website: www.ovaid.org
Link to scholarship description and application form: https://www.ovaid.org/bronwyn-watson-scholarship-2018
