WESIG

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Welcome to the Wildlife and Exotics Special Interest Group! Follow this page for updates on events

04/10/2026

🦏 WESIG is excited to announce our 2026 Quiz Night – Supporting Care for Wild! 🌍

Think you’ve got what it takes to be the ultimate quiz master? 🧠✨

Join us for a night of snack,fun, and trivia as we raise money for AWC & Care for Wild – a South African rhino sanctuary and wildlife hospital partnered with the University of Adelaide. 🦏 Our final year vet students get the chance to help out at this incredible organisation, and now you can too by supporting their cause!

📅 Date & Time: Wednesday 14th October, 7-9PM
📍 Location: Roseworthy Hub

💵 Entry Fee:
$10 - Non-members
$5 - Members

🔗Sign up now here: http://forms.gle/SLkbjMphTm2DYcVc7

📩 If you have form a group with your friends (max. 8ppl/group), send your team members to us at WESIG on Instagram, or via Facebook messenger!

Grab your mates, form a team, and get ready for a fun night for a great cause 🦁💕

To find out more about Care for Wild & AWC, visit their website here: https://careforwild.co.za/ & https://www.australianwildlife.org/

02/10/2026

2026 has been a fantastic year for WESIG, but now it’s time to create a new committee ahead of 2027. Join us for our AGM in Week 10 and nominate + vote for the new committee.
Get ready to make 2027 another great year for WESIG by nominating yourself (or someone else) here:
https://forms.gle/4oGEvJmvAyMmGTKT8

Can’t wait to see you there!

20/09/2026

Join us on Thursday for Bahn Mi as we hear from Mandy Jones, founder of Conservation Detection Dogs SA!

Mandy will talk all about the training and use of her canine team for conservation purposes, from finding endangered lizard species to hunting down fox dens to protect endangered Hooded Plovers!

Come and learn about how dogs can play a role in protecting and conserving Australia’s wildlife, and maybe meet a member of her team ...

If you’re keen to come along, you can sign-up here:
https://forms.gle/n4QHNjQw5mTsqZwc6

Here’s a bit more from Mandy: “We are a passionate team dedicated to protecting our environment and its incredible biodiversity. Our exceptional dogs are specially trained and have the remarkable ability to sniff out endangered species, rare wildlife and invasive animals and unique flora. Together we work tirelessly to combat invasive species, protect delicate fauna, and conserve the rich flora we have.”

Can’t wait to see you there! 🐕🐾🦎🪿🌳

15/09/2026

Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue (SKER) are a 24/7 wildlife rescue organisation, and provide veterinary care and rehabilitation to native wildlife in need.
SKER have kindly invited WESIG members for an exclusive tour of their hospital facilities. Come along if you’d like to experience a purpose built wildlife hospital, and maybe meet some of their long term residents!

Please complete the EOI below to help us gauge interest and understand carpooling needs - due to work/ time restraints the trip must be during the midsemester break.
We will have maximum 15 people on the tour, however there is scope to have two tours on the same day if there is interest.

COMPLETE THE EOI HERE:
https://forms.gle/RSXc7qpv9xqS4FaH6

This is a member’s only event, but you can join WESIG at any time via the AUSA Clubs.

We hope to see you there!! 🐨🌲🦔🐾

06/09/2026

With the emergence of H5N1 in Australia, those of us who work with animals play an important role in preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn more about infectious diseases and zoonoses in birds with our special guest speaker, ABVP-boarded Avian Specialist Dr Nicole! 🐦

Whether you work with wildlife, companion animals, or other species, birds may become part of your journey in animal care — from encountering wild birds to treating pet birds. Building your knowledge of avian infectious diseases and zoonoses can help us all work more safely and effectively. 🌏🐾

📅 Come along, learn something new, and connect with fellow animal professionals!

👉 Sign up here: https://forms.gle/QBiP7Mn65k79CPG28
🔗 Link in bio

🍕 Free pizza for WESIG members!

We hope to see you there! 💙

28/08/2026

Get excited for our much anticipated Necropsy Night! Spend the evening in the anatomy lab with Dr Jenny McLelland and her team from Adelaide Zoo, learning and practicing necropsy and pathology skills. We will start with a brief introduction in Vet Sci G07, before moving to the anatomy lab.

You will be performing a necropsy/ dissection on a native animal yourself - this is a great experience and as hands on as it gets! Previous years have seen one animal per student, depending on sign ups. Whether you're studying for VAP, Parasitology, Pathology, Wildlife or CAP (Spey and neuter practice anyone 👀) this one's applicable to most years of the Veterinary program.

Please note this is only open to DVM and 2nd/3rd year Vet Bio students due to insurance and safety purposes.

Where: Vet Sci G07, anatomy lab
When: Thursday 03/09 (Week 5), 6PM - 9PM
What to bring: Gumboots

You can sign-up here:
https://forms.gle/T7B8xsucWfygAUKn6

Numbers are limited, and attendance is open only to WESIG members. If you would like to attend, but are not yet a WESIG members, you still have time to sign up via the AUSA website (link on our page).

20/08/2026

A huge thank you to our two W**e & Cheese night speakers, Dr Shelly Butcher and Dr Alanna Knight, who took the time to speak to us about their different career journeys working with wildlife. We hope everyone who came along enjoyed the night as much as we did, and we can’t wait to see you at more events this semester! 🍷🧀🦎🐨💕

15/08/2026

Join WESIG & ESIG to hear from researcher Belinda Linnegar on her Hendra Virus research. Free banh mi for the first 30 members to sign-up!

More on Belinda’s research below:
From the Horse’s Mouth - Hendra Virus and the One Health Challenge of Emerging Zoonoses
Hendra virus was first identified 30 years ago and a vaccine to mitigate this disease was introduced 13 years ago. But how effective are our responses to this pathogen and how have they changed over time? We investigated the horse-related factors of Hendra virus spillover, including the distribution of domestic horses in northeast NSW and southeast Queensland, their vaccination levels against Hendra virus and our surveillance of spillover events. We found that spillover events occurred where higher horse densities and counts of flying fox roosts overlapped within agricultural landscapes. Although the risk of spillover continues across expanding geographical ranges, vaccination and surveillance have declined. The strongest predictor of both vaccination and surveillance was access to veterinarians.

Sign-up here:
https://forms.gle/etcriwuYazF6utXe8

11/08/2026

Get excited for semester two with WESIG's W**e and Cheese Night! Join us for an exciting evening hearing some incredible industry professionals who will share insights from their careers, along with advice for students keen to get involved in zoo, exotics or wildlife medicine in the future. Enjoy free w**e and cheese at this event as you network and connect with your fellow club members! 🍷🧀

When: 18th August (Tuesday Week 3), 6:30pm onwards
Where: Vet Science G05-07 Tute Rooms

Please BYO w**e glass/mug/vessel of choice for the w**e!

All students are welcome (not just WESIG members!) but note that free w**e and cheese will be provided for WESIG members (first 30 signups only); simply fill in the Google Form below to express your interest:
https://forms.gle/PMUMk8t6K4iETpEu5

10/08/2026

Semester 2 has arrived, and we've got plenty in store. Next on the calendar is W**e & Cheese night, scheduled for next Tuesday (week 3). More info on that coming soon. 🐾🍷🧀

Address

Roseworthy, SA

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https://www.instagram.com/wesig.adelaide/

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