Intern Story - Julien Lehoux

Hi, my name is Julien Lehoux. I am a French vet student in my fourth year at The Veterinary School of Nantes (ONIRIS). I decided to do a 6-week internship at CCF to have a first hand experience in wildlife conservation and veterinary medicine.

My project here was to put in place a meat inspection protocol for the CCF abattoir to try and minimize the likelihood of any CCF resident cheetahs contracting a food borne disease. Working with CCF’s Namibian workers was, for me, a great experience as it improved my professional repertoire when interacting with people rather than with animals. I also got to spend time in CCF’s Vet Clinic being involved in many things: cheetah health checks, x-rays on Stitch’s elbow (a young cheetah at CCF who has bone problems), and dental work on Shadow (CCF’s oldest cheetah). I had the opportunity to take care of CCF’s other animals; dogs, goats and horses and I learned a lot about conservation not only of the cheetah but of many other species as well.

I met a lot of wonderful people here from all over the world (South Africa, Europe, Japan, China, America), which is another reason why CCF is such an amazing place. I hope I will come back in Namibia and CCF one day to spend more time in this beautiful country and with the cheetahs!