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2023

4th March 2023 – by Dr Dominic Phillips

By 4th March 2023March 10th, 2023No Comments

4th March

by Dr Dominic Phillips

Our last day at Sariska – can you believe it!  And it’s presentation day.  There was definitely an air of apprehension and tension as everyone prepared to give their 7-minute presentations!  But there was nothing to worry about, everyone did so well, particularly those who were presenting in English as a second language.  We were treated to a smorgasbord of bite-sized presentations and, once again, we all learnt so much from each other: from anaesthesia in the porcupine and the gaur, to outbreaks of African Swine Fever and EEHV.  Well done everyone!

With the presentations given, we had a relaxed afternoon – other than disinfecting our field boots (under strict instructions from Dr Tony!), there wasn’t any scheduled work, so some enjoyed a cold beer in Queens Corner, others packed ready for our departure tomorrow, and Pat held a final celebratory yoga class down by the pool – she included as many animal asanas, or poses, as possible in recognition of IWAH!

In the evening we gathered on the Sariska Palace terrace for our closing ceremony – what a setting!  It was a very special event, hosted by Parag, with speeches from key tutors and dignitaries, with recognition to those that had worked so hard to make the course as successful as it was, and prizes (including spoof prizes chosen by the tutors!) and certificates given to all the students.  It was an emotional ceremony and all the students will cherish the course certificate and photo collage given to us in a beautiful presentation folder.

With the serious stuff done, it was time to eat, drink and dance.  This was started with traditional musicians and dancers from Rajasthan – really beautiful – and it went downhill from there as we all hit the dance floor with great enthusiasm – but with significantly less grace and elegance!  The celebrations extended late into the night, despite the early start and long journeys we all faced the next day!

The atmosphere today has been one of celebration and comradeship – though with a tinge of sadness, as the realisation was dawning on us all that IWAH 2023 was coming to an end and that tomorrow we would all be heading off to different parts of India and different parts of the world.  However, something special has happened over the last three weeks and though we shall all be physically separated, the experiences that we have shared, and the friendships and connections that we have forged during the course will ensure that we are all still linked and together in some way despite the physical separation.  Those friendships and connections are strong and I am confident they will persist; not only will they be bonds of friendship, but they will also be bonds of a common passion, and a common cause, as we all work towards conserving the extraordinary wildlife that we are all so privileged to work with.

In thanks to everyone, but in particular, our Indian hosts and the magnificent tigers that they are custodians of, I would like to share a poem by the English visionary, artist and poet William Blake: “The Tyger” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/the-tyger.

Drop here!