When I got selected to participate in Dr. Robin Radcliffe’s summer experiential learning course in Indonesia, I had no idea what to expect. This course, Conservation with Communities, pairs undergraduate students with veterinary students and sends the teams to various field locations throughout the world. Students engage in important conservation research and hands-on learning in Uganda, Republic of Congo, or Indonesia, working with all sorts of unique wildlife. I had talked to previous years’ teams, but everyone’s experiences were slightly different. All I knew for sure was that I was going to Indonesia for eight weeks, and that critically endangered Sumatran rhinos would be involved. Can’t get much cooler than that, right? Well, with Indonesia’s plethora of wildlife and incredible diversity of conservation organizations, it did indeed get cooler than that. 

In each of the five locations that my undergraduate companion and I visited, we explored challenges related to wildlife conservation: everything from mining and land use issues to elephant conflict and primates in the pet trade. We met all sorts of people who shared their stories with us, and we experienced the beauty and complexity of Indonesia’s culture. Although this program has existed for a decade now, we were the first team to get to visit such a large number of field sites and work with several different NGOs in the region. It’s hard to summarize the important work these groups are doing in a few short sentences, but here’s a taste.

ALeRT Kalimantan

ALeRT (The Alliance for Integrated Forest Conservation) was our host organization. Their work in Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, revolves around captive management of a subspecies of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino. The one individual in their care is an important animal for behavioral and physiological research, and they are hoping to employ assisted reproductive techniques with her to help propagate her species.

BinBon and Herpetology Breeding Conservation Laboratory

These organizations, on the island of Java, focus on herpetological education, husbandry, and research. The laboratory is working on perfecting frog breeding techniques with the future goal of breeding Indonesia’s only protected amphibian, the bleeding toad. BinBon is a privately owned collection of reptiles, amphibians, and other animals that serves as an educational facility for university students and young veterinarians. They also do a lot of outreach about safe management of snake-human conflict and other instances of wildlife conflict.

ALeRT Way Kambas

ALeRT’s team on Sumatra Island is based in Way Kambas National Park. They have several projects, including wildlife population monitoring, management of human-elephant conflict (which is a big issue in the region), reforestation, and wildfire response. 

Yayasan Owa Jawa

The Javan Gibbon Center in Bandung, Java, serves as a release site for the endangered Javan silvery gibbon. Gibbons are confiscated, surrendered, or rescued from the pet trade, rehabilitated at their rehabilitation center, and then brought to the forest for permanent release. During our time with YOJ, we learned all about this process and also got involved in their wildlife monitoring, reforestation, and community outreach projects.

YIARI

This organization is a sanctuary and rehabilitation center for slow lorises, the world’s only venomous primate! Here, we learned about everything that goes into captive management of primates. We performed fecal examinations, prepared enrichment, fed the animals, performed behavioral observations, and talked with the veterinarians about some of the medical challenges they deal with.

Although visiting so many field sites meant we had many exhausting travel days, I wouldn’t change anything about our experience. We were able to work with such a wide variety of species, from rhinos to elephants to teeny tiny frogs to venomous snakes to venomous primates! Many of these animals are not found anywhere else in the world, and I will forever treasure my time working with them. We even had the chance to help with an Asian water monitor relocation after local people trapped it in a bathroom! This unexpected encounter with the world’s second-largest lizard (and its parasitic tick hitchhikers, which I helped to carefully remove) is one of my wildest but fondest memories of our trip.

I am also incredibly thankful for the relationships we developed during our time in Indonesia. The people there taught me to live in the moment, laugh off the challenges, and remember to rest. Some of our best conversations about conservation came over midday meals of nasi ayam (chicken and rice)! There are so many passionate people working on so many important projects, but there is still so much work to be done! If I learned anything from my trip, it’s that there will always be more to do — another human-wildlife conflict scenario to manage, another child to educate about their native wildlife, another primate to rescue from the pet trade, another species to bring back from the brink of extinction. I am so proud to be a part of an institution that cares deeply about protecting wildlife and the environment in which they live and gives students an array of opportunities to explore conservation and its complexities. Special thanks to Dr. Radcliffe, Engaged Cornell, and all our partners in Indonesia for making the last summer of my life an absolutely exceptional one!

Adora Colicci

Adora Colicci (Class of 2027) is a veterinary student at Cornell, originally from Syracuse, NY. She completed an undergraduate degree in Biology at Houghton University. Adora has enjoyed learning about a wide variety of species during her time at Cornell through coursework, international experiences, ZAWS activities, and her job as a student assistant at the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital. She is excited to incorporate everything she’s learned into a career in exotic and small animal primary care!