{"id":21829,"date":"2024-03-01T14:29:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T18:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=21829"},"modified":"2024-03-01T16:44:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T20:44:56","slug":"wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wildlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Heeding the Call of the Wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

World Wildlife Day, observed annually on March 3, underscores the critical role of wildlife veterinarians in global conservation efforts as professionals like Maddie Chilcote \u201917 work to ensure the health and survival of wild species, supporting both biodiversity and ecosystem preservation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people think of household pets like cats and dogs when they think of veterinary medicine, yet it\u2019s a whole other animal for Kalamazoo College alumna Maddie Chilcote \u201917.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chilcote is a wildlife and conservation medicine intern at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife<\/a> (CROW), a nonprofit teaching hospital and visitor education center in Sanibel, Florida, dedicated to saving wildlife through veterinary care, research, education and conservation medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kalamazoo College alumna Maddie Chilcote \u201917 is a wildlife and conservation medicine intern at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) cares for more than 6,000 sick, injured and orphaned wildlife patients from more than 200 species a year.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Chilcote performs surgery to remove dead tissue on a mottled duck.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The mottled duck Chilcote treated at CROW began growing new feathers and healthy tissue three weeks after surgery.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Each year, CROW cares for more than 6,000 sick, injured and orphaned wildlife patients from more than 200 species\u2014varying from tortoises to bald eagles\u2014while offering educational fellowships and externship programs for undergraduate students and visiting veterinary students, and internship programs for veterinarian graduates like Chilcote, a Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine graduate. In addition to clinical duties, CROW interns work closely with staff from all departments in the hospital to gain a better understanding of the rehabilitation process, participate in research and conservation projects, and help teach students, staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnthropogenic threats are the primary reason patients present to the hospital\u2014whether they have been hit by a car, stuck in a glue trap, suffering from toxins such as rodenticides or harmful algal blooms, or reaping the consequences of habitat destruction.\u201d Chilcote said. \u201cIf students want to be a part of the organizations that are the One Health and climate change first responders, I would encourage them to get involved in wildlife rehabilitation and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chilcote began to realize her potential career path in fourth grade in her hometown of Rochester Hills, Michigan, when she gave a speech in school about her dream of becoming a veterinarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what inspired me at that age, probably just love for my pet cat, hearing about the conservation work my uncle was involved in, seeing animals on TV and going to the zoo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That dream shifted slightly when she<\/a> job shadowed in high school and the appeal of clinical care lost some of its luster. Chilcote said she considered pursuing research over clinical work when she began taking classes such as animal behavior, animal development, vertebrate biology<\/a> and symbiosis from influential faculty members such as Biology Lab Director Anne Engh and Associate Professor of Biology Amanda Wollenberg at K, where she also minored in German and played women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Her Senior Integrated Project (SIP) at Binder Park Zoo focused on the stereotypic pacing behaviors of three American black bear siblings while introducing food-based and environmental enrichment, sealing her career interest in wildlife. Soon after, she found an internship at the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, Maine, where she began embracing the idea of attending Michigan State to study veterinary medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Michigan State, Chilcote used elective opportunities to spend time at the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network in California, the Wildlife Center of Virginia, the California Wildlife Center, The Georgia Aquarium, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife before fulfilling an internship\u2014similar to a residency for students of human medicine\u2014at VCA South Shore Animal Hospital near Boston.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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