Today@Dal

And the adventure begins!

The first 13 Faculty of Agriculture students participating in the African Wildlife Ecology Course began the first leg of their 32-hour journey to Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday evening, May 31st at the Robert Stanfield International Airport in Halifax.

The students will be spending the next three weeks in a tented camp in The Amakhala Game Reserve in South African as part of the Faculty鈥檚 newest program in Bioveterinary Science.

The African Wildlife Ecology Course is an optional three-week credit course for Bioveterinary Science students providing them with an opportunity to work with the Big 5 in South Africa.
鈥淭he Faculty of Agriculture is proud to be partnering with Rhodes University, one of South Africa鈥檚 leading research universities and its world renowned Wildlife & Reserve Management Research Group on the development and delivery of this unique and innovative course. The Faculty of Agriculture truly believes in applying theory to practice, real 鈥榟ands on learning鈥� and this is a fantastic example of that approach,鈥� explained Faculty of Agriculture Dean, David Gray.

Students will be given lectures on such topics as anthropology, ecology, animal behavior, palaeontology and the climate and history of the region. They will also be taken on fieldtrips to surrounding areas to experience various ecosystems including Addo Elephant Park and Mountain Zebra National Park.

鈥淚f you really want to see true ecology in action then there is only one place to do it鈥�Africa! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to study in South Africa and that experience has stayed with me throughout my career,鈥� added Dean Gray. 鈥淭he biology and ecology you get to see鈥�to live鈥�is in a different league to what we are all used to here in the northern hemisphere鈥�and if you bring in 鈥淭he Big 5鈥� then things get REALLY exciting. Predator-prey relationships, conservation, ecological interactions from micro to macro scales and you鈥檙e living right in the middle of it all. It is simply fantastic!"

For more information on this program please contact Kendra Mellish at Kendra.mellish@dal.ca.

Follow the students on their blog at