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Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary ( Kona, HI)
Available to all veterinary students.
- Attending Vet: Annette Timmel, DVM
- Contact: Ann Goody, Sactuary Director
P.O. Box 1248 , Kealakekua, HI 96750-1248
Email: animals@threeringranch.org
Fax: 808-331-8773
- Website: www.threeringranch.org
- Application process: Submit 2 letters of recommendation (personal and professional and a brief bio to Ann Goody
- Perks : Free housing and car available.
- Duration : 3 wks; two sessions: one in July, one in August
Additional Info : Information about the Externship from Stephanie Wan, Class of 2007: Here's an opportunity to spend a few weeks of your summer in beautiful Kona, Hawaii at an animal sanctuary, Three Ring Ranch. I did an externship there last summer and had a great time. Below is the description of the externship from Ann, she runs the sanctuary, and this place is actually her home. Ann is a very interesting and generous person, and a great teacher. This is not an externship for those that strictly want clinical experience, but if you are interested in husbandry, animal behaviour, and being outdoors, this is quite the experience. I would be more than happy to answer any questions, or if you would like more information. Bergin Tam also did the externship last summer, he'll be happy to answer any questions too. Information about the Externship from Ann Goody: Aloha. Our program is going into it's third summer this year and still a developing creature. This year we are again pairing a vet student with a pre-vet student so both could gain the hands on experience and one could learn some of the more advanced skills from the other. Thus the role of the vet student will be not only to learn but to share knowledge and give advice on what it is like to be actively in vet school. We are a tiny USDA licensed, non-profit facility that is home to a wide variety of exotic (88 residents) and native Hawaiian species. Our Sanctuary is fully accredited by The Association Of Sanctuaries (TAOS) as a rehabilitation/sanctuary facility, the only one of it's kind in Hawaii. Summer interns would be expected to take part in twice daily feeding rounds to learn the individual care required for all the different resident species. We have a wide variety of rehab animals in and out (nene, pueo, Io, hoary bats, seabirds etc.) that would require care and treatment. Any wildlife calls would be part of the day along with the treatment of the animal we found. Behavioral enrichment and animal environments are of primary concern to us here at the Sanctuary. Interns will have to pick or be given an area or animal resident to focus on and revamp or construct a new or modified environment. Constant expansion and change of enrichment by even the simple action of a new shelter or planting makes a huge difference in the quality of life for a captive animal if it allows more natural behaviors and lowers stress. All interns will be expected to take from our records or logs some event and write it up in a form that can be used to share knowledge in a medical publication or rehab journal. This would be a co-authored article and I will work with you in data collection and provide the history and background on the animal along with photos and or other records. You do the historical research and find a wildlife rehab journal that the data would be of assistance by being published in. examples include: Our unusual treatment protocol for turtle shell repair using human skin care products over an 18 month period on a box turtle. Rehabilitation of head injured raptors with and without steroids, a comparative study. Other articles that need to be written include: our blended flamingo diet that is now copied by several zoos, or another about the juvenile Hawaiian hoary bat we cared for over a 4 month period. There are quite a few that quickly come to mind. You could work with the other student or alone on your own project. (The flamingo diet has been published as has a wonderful enrichment article on oryx care by last years students in SWAVA) Housing for the program would be here at the Sanctuary in our guest apartment. We have an "internmobile" available for you to drive. You would be responsible for your expenses getting here and once here unless a grant could be obtained. I understand that some expenses were repaid the past 2 summers for the externs after they submitted forms to Dr. Greg Massey DVM. Additionally you have the opportunity to assist Annette Timmel DVM at her clinic in Waimea during her surgical days. Her practice is quite busy so it makes for a great experience in a solo practice arena. Once accepted you are part of our family for the few weeks you are here. You have the use of a guest apartment in our larger home . We have a pool overlooking the town of Kona and are in a private gated community about 5 minutes from the beach. On the weekend you can stay here or take off and explore. Perhaps you'd like to ride the horses or walk in the little town of Kona. We have great hiking up nearby Hualalai to the crater and rainforest. This summer we will run two sessions for 3 weeks each as we did last summer. One vet student paired with one pre-vet. Dates will depend on the dates of everyone's classes getting out. One program will run in July and one in August. To apply you need to send me a brief bio and two letters of reference. One from a personal and one from a professional or teacher who can explain why you would be the best candidate for this limited program. Good luck! Ann Goody
- UCD Student Review : Stephanie Wan, Class of 2007 and Bergin Tam, Class of 2009
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