Welcome back to Christine Tan. Chris defines herself as one of those “rare species” of Bachelor of Veterinary Technologist graduates from the Massey University Programme.  After graduating in 2015, Chris worked full-time as a Wildlife Technician at the Wildbase Hospital. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a Wildlife technician, but after COVID 19, I had a yearning to do something different and learn different life skills”. An opportunity presented itself to retrain as an Emergency Medical Technician with Hato Hone St John Ambulance. Working as a frontline medical staff was fun and challenging, I gained so much and never regretted my decision. However, after 3 years of shift work, I felt the impacts of working night shifts and quickly realised it wasn’t sustainable long term. One never forgets the excitement of working up close and personal with NZ native species and I really missed being a veterinary technician (nurse). So either through fate or coincidence, I was offered a role back in Wildbase Hospital. I find fulfilment in many aspects of my role as a Wildlife Technician. My top favourite is seeing our wildlife patients go from being sick & injured to full health and being released back into the wild. This brings me joy and is very rewarding. Christine would have a supervisory role in an oiled wildlife facility for Wildbase during an oils spill response.

The OWRT courses jointly developed by the University of California at Davis, USA, and Massey University, NZ have reached a milestone having been online for over 5 years. The OWRT online oiled wildlife training has shown to be truly global with people from Trinidad, The Falklands, Singapore, Livarno, Italy, and Adu Dhab, UAE taking the courses as well as throughout the US, New Zealand, Australia, UK, and Europe. The courses are research-led, international best-practice Oiled Wildlife Training, for individuals, organisations, industry, and governments interested in training staff in Oiled Wildlife Response.  For more information and to enrol please visit our website https://owrt.org/www.owrt.org
Links to information about each course:
Level 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWwCvbCVEnY
Level 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm8Q-juXKC4

Are you interested in joining the Wildbase team? There is a PhD Scholarship available for hazing and deterrence practices for New Zealand wildlife during pollution events   https://lnkd.in/g89nMu67

Preventing New Zealand wildlife from becoming impacted by pollution events is a priority when an oil spill or pollution event occurs. A PhD scholarship is available to study and assess techniques and consequences of hazing or deterring wildlife away from pollution events in New Zealand. Please see link for more details and for how to apply.

Key facts
Value: $30,000 NZ per annum plus tuition fees.
Duration: Three years
Type of study: PhD or doctorate, Research

Eligibility restrictions: New Zealand citizen

Bridey White and Megan Jolly undertook the second of two Oiled Wildlife Response Training targeting animal care professionals within the zoo and wildlife rehabilitation community.  This time we went further north and it was hosted at Auckland Zoo. This event brought together 13 members of the zoo/wildlife rehabilitation community from across the upper and middle North Island of New Zealand. There were representatives from Auckland Zoo, Kelly Tarltons, the National Wildlife Kiwi Hatchery, Brooklands, and Hamilton Zoo. This was a one-day course that was a mix of didactic teaching opportunities and some oil spill practical exercises interspersed. The aim of this is to develop a cohesive team across the animal community that can assist in a Massey University led oiled wildlife response.

Bridey White attended and provided input for the Regional On Scene Commander’s Maritime NZ course in July. This is a course held in Auckland at Te Atatu and is hosted and run by the MPRS training team, Maritime NZ. As part of attending Bridey had the opportunity to present wildlife information to the attendees including the fundamental three aims of wildlife response: keep the oil away from the animals, attempt to keep the animals away from the oil, and if we can’t do that provide solutions for the capture, clean, rehabilitate and release contaminated animals. The ROSCs are a group of talented people who come under the tutelage of MPRS and Maritime NZ to achieve revalidation of ROSC status (Regional On-Scene Commanders) in their region. This is a full-on week that we are lucky to be a part of.  As part of Wildbase attending we were able to invite one of our experienced NOWRTS Nicola McGrouther to assist in inputting wildlife information for the teams as they worked through their scenarios. All of the attendees passed with flying colours and managed their scenarios with flare.

We thought we would highlight some of the research which has been undertaken by Wildbase and colleges in the last couple of years. 

Chilvers BL, McCelland PJ 2023 Lessons Learned for Pre-Emptive Capture Management as a Tool for Wildlife Conservation during Oil Spills and Eradication Events. Animals 13: 833. https://

doi.org/10.3390/ani13050833

Pre-emptive capture or translocation of wildlife during oil spills and prior to pest eradication poison applications have very specific conservation goals to ensure the survival of a threatened regional population or species. This paper reviews reports from pre-emptive captures and translocations of threatened wildlife undertaken during past oil spills and island pest eradications. Species captured, techniques used, outcomes of responses, and lessons learned were assessed and recommendations for the planning and trials needed for future pre-emptive capture operations are described. This paper aims to learn from the past to encourage better use and preparedness for pre-emptive capture as a preventative wildlife conservation tool in the future.

And highlighting our collaborative research work with our GOWRS partners, Aiuka (and thanks for the photo). 

Chilvers BL, Ruoppolo V 2023 Planning for an offshore oiled wildlife response: case studies from New Zealand and Brazil. Environmental Science and Pollution Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26440-4

When an offshore oil spill occurs, it is often assumed that there will be no wildlife impacted or that an oiled wildlife response could not be undertaken. In most cases, one or both assumptions are wrong. With increasing offshore fishing, petroleum exploration, and shipping routes, the risk of accidents and spills offshore has increased. This review outlines the important considerations for offshore oiled wildlife response and explores two case studies on offshore oiled wildlife response planning based on offshore drilling or active platforms in New Zealand and Brazil. There are significant challenges for running a response in offshore environments; however, with planning, including preparation of specialized response plans, equipment, and readiness of skilled personnel, an offshore oiled wildlife response can lead to greater survival and protection for wildlife and the environment.