Dr. Markus Hofmeyr, experienced wildlife veterinarian and Director of the Rhino Recovery Fund, was invited by Cornell University as a special guest speaker late last year to discuss his views on sustainable conservation and lessons learned from his many years performing wildlife reintroductions. Hosted by the Cornell Wildlife Health Center and student-led Zoo and Wildlife Society based at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Markus spent the evening enlightening the next generation of wildlife veterinarians and conservationists about the importance of the work they are dedicating their lives to.
Markus presented several conservation case studies based around the establishment of national parks and reserves to protect and reintroduce endangered wildlife, like rhinos, and the considerable challenges that come with such significant and intricate projects. He stressed that such achievements often take years, even decades, to come to fruition, and as wildlife veterinarians, these students will one day play a key role in ensuring the health, safety, and strategic stability of long-term conservation efforts.
“If we don’t protect these areas, we will end up with a significant loss of biodiversity, and future generations won’t be able to experience these incredible wild places.”
He also shared insights about rhino translocations from unsafe landscapes to secure protected areas, going over the many steps and collaborations necessary to complete these successful operations, and gave examples of nuanced animal behavior informing the way certain relocations are carried out.