Wildlife Health Specialist

Wildlife Health Specialist

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

Organization Background:
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, presence in more than 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150 protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to address species, habitat and ecosystem management issues critical to improving the quality of life of poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct utilization of natural resources.

WCS works in Peru since 1968 developing specific wildlife research, and since 2003 has a constant presence in the country, via a Country Program. Currently WCS in Peru works in two large natural landscapes, the Madidi Tambopata Landscape that covers part of the departments of Puno and Madre de Dios in the southern Amazon, and the Marañón Ucayali Landscape in the northwestern department of Loreto. Likewise, we work on three initiatives at the national level supporting the management of protected natural areas, the conservation of Amazonian waters and the conservation of wildlife.

Central to our work on wildlife conservation is the One Health approach. Wildlife, livestock, and human diseases will likely have a significant impact on the future development of sustainable land uses, protected areas, transboundary natural resource management, other biodiversity conservation approaches, and livelihood opportunities in many of the landscapes where we work. Our work at the interface of wildlife, domestic animal, and human health has demonstrated that a One Health approach can build new constituencies for conservation and strengthen existing ones, while mitigating a key threat to conservation.

Position Summary

WCS seeks a dynamic, experienced veterinarian with a strong interest in wildlife conservation, and particular interest in addressing issues at the nexus of wildlife health, domestic animal health, and human health. This position requires combined expertise in training, epidemiology, pathology, and wildlife/conservation medicine to support the design and implementation of a wildlife bio-surveillance network in Peru.

Spanish and English, and have a strong interest in field-conservation and capacity building. This

is a full-time position. He/She will report to the WCS Peru Program and will collaborate closely with our Global Wildlife Health Program team of specialists based in New York and around the world. He/She will be based in Lima, but significant travel to our field sites throughout the country is expected.

Major Responsibilities:

- Work to operationalize wildlife bio-surveillance networks and help leverage lessons learned to other WCS regions working to build wildlife health capacity and disease surveillance.
- Contribute to the development of active and passive disease surveillance protocols designed to detect and validate reported wildlife morbidity/mortality events.
- Work in collaboration with national One Health partners and platforms to develop national strategy documents for wildlife bio-surveillance and systems for disease reporting and risk analysis in coordination with existing networks in the livestock and public health sectors, including re-enforcement of any current frameworks or processes in place.
- Contribute to the development of training materials, piloting new training delivery mechanisms, and monitoring the effectiveness of training programs to enhance wildlife bio
- surveillance networks.
- Build capacity in national governmental agencies for wildlife disease surveillance and investigation by conducting training workshops and providing practical “on-the-job” training opportunities.
- Coordinate with in-country laboratories to build capacity and provide diagnostic support for wildlife bio-surveillance networks in the region.
- Explore utilization of media screening, disease reporting hotlines, mobile-based reporting, including the use of SMART Connect, and reporting to expand and enhance national and regional wildlife bio-surveillance systems.
- Contribute to achieving WCS’s national and landscape objective through integrating wildlife health activities into ongoing landscape conservation programs and supporting the implementation of site-level conservation activities.
- Identify and document lessons learnt, and collect information for case studies;
- Identify and contribute to the formulation of projects related to wildlife health, and report progress on projects on this issue c