Approaching the Health and Wellbeing of marine Mammals under human Care

Overview

NOTICE: the Winter School has to be cancelled for this Winter 2023.

Should it be held in 2024, new dates and new application deadline will be published in October 2023.

The Winter School "Approaching the Health and wellbeing of marine mammals under human care" starts from the consideration that unconventional animal species, such as marine mammals (Tursiops truncatus - bottlenose dolphin, Zalophus californianus - California sea lion, Otaria flavescens - Patagonian sea lion, Phoca vitulina - common seal, and Halichoerus grypus - gray seal), often do not find proper space within Veterinary Medicine courses, and this is despite the fact that the veterinarian plays a major role in the preservation and care of marine mammals in controlled environments, such as those housed in Zoological Gardens and Aquariums.

The course will explain how to approach and manage marine mammals, aimed at the subsequent learning of basic clinical procedures and diagnostic investigations commonly used in these species.In the Winter School, 5th-year students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Physicians will have the opportunity to learn in detail how basic clinical examination and diagnostics are carried out and at the same time how to manage unconventional animals kept under human care in Zoos.

The course will be based on an interactive program in which lectures and practical visualization of the topics on animals and on video lectures will alternate, depending on the topic covered. Interaction between the course participants (Veterinarians/Last Year Veterinary Students) and the animals will be handled in accordance with current legislation.

The course will be held at Zoomarine spa, in Torvaianica – Pomezia (Roma).