Summary Report of Virtual Conference on Small Mammals

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Summary Report of Virtual Conference on Small Mammals
by Meena Pandey \| 31-07-2021 13:55 0
Summary Report of Virtual Conference on Small Mammals It was a proud moment for me to collaborate with IVSA Paklihawa and IVSA PSAU being an ambassador to Asia. The time during preparation for the conference, searching for potential speakers, team management, participant management, poster preparation, guide book preparation, and many other activities have helped me to learn how to work in a team. So, here I present to you the summary of the Virtual Conference on Small Mammals which was organised by Meena Pandey (myself), Alok Dhakal (eco gen ambassador to Nepal) with collaboration with IVSA PSAU and IVSA Paklihawa. On this very first day, we had a webinar which was divided into two sessions. In the first session, we had Dr. Baburam Lamichhane (Act. Office In-Charge / NTNC at Biodiversity Conservation Center, Chitwan) as our guest speaker and in the second session, Dr.Rebanta Kumar Bhattarai (Associate Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Head of Department at Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal) Served as a key speaker. On that day, we had a huge number of guests. At the beginning of “VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ON SMALL MAMMALS”, we had a short Description of Tunza eco generation, IVSA Paklihawa. Similarly, Ms. Jen Erequie gave a short Mo description of IVSA PSAU. And then we moved towards the presentation of our guest speakers. In the first session, we had a presentation on “Importance of small mammals and their conservation status in Nepal '' from Dr.Baburam Lamichane. In this session, he talked about the different orders of small mammals that are found in Nepal. He elaborated on different species of small mammals that fall on the order carnivora( family; Felidae, Canidae, Hyaenidae, Ursidae, Viverridae, Mustelidae, Herpestidae, and Ailuridae ). He explained their; present status, ongoing threats like poaching, habitat loss, illegal trade, disease, etc.), conservation policies, and measures. He also addressed all the questions dropped by our participants on the chat box. At last Dr.baburam lamichhane put forward his few words regarding this conference. At the end of this session, Mr. Ram Shankar (SCAW Ambassador, IVSA Global) played a game called “picture hunt” to all the participants. In this game, the participants had to predict the name of the mammals which were displayed on the screen. And this game continued in the second session too. After the completion of the first session, we had a short break for about 30 minutes and the second continued with the presentation from our guest speaker Dr. Rebanta Kumar Bhattarai. In this session, Dr. Bhattarai gave his presentation on “Terrestrial Small Mammals as the reservoirs of the zoonotic diseases: Microbiological Basis' '. Dr. Bhattarai gave a detailed description of different zoonotic diseases like brucellosis, salmonellosis, Japanese encephalitis, rabies, tularemia, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever, etc. that can be transmitted by various small mammals or these small mammals act as the reservoirs of these diseases. He mentioned that the loss of half of the population of livestock is mainly due to zoonotic diseases and these diseases have a devastating impact on public health too. He also talked about many emerging and re emerging zoonotic diseases and their effects on both human and public health. He answered all the queries of the Q&A session. Before leaving the floor, Dr. Rebanta Bhattarai gave his wonderful remarks to the organising committee for inviting him and he also thanked all the participants for their interactive presence throughout the session. And in this session too, we played a “PICTURE HUNT” game to entertain our participants. They all enjoyed it a lot. Finally, the first day of “VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ON SMALL MAMMALS was wrapped up by Mr. Juan Paulo Gallinatio with his concluding remarks. Day 2: This day was divided into two sessions. In the first session we had, Dr. Geraldine Cajuigan-Sanchez (Professor in PSAU College of Veterinary Medicine, Director of Extension and Training, Senior Faculty, and Researcher and Head of PSAU Nutraceutical Research Laboratory) and Dr. Napoleon Manuel T. Almelor III, RN (Resident Exotic Veterinarian at theVets in Practice Alabang Branch, and Wildlife and Exotic Medicine Lecturer for the Veterinary Medicine Licensure Examination at Recency Review Center). And in the second session, Mr. Kevin D. Tuazon (Farm Manager at Lahar Integrated Farms) served as a key speaker. In the first session, our guest speaker Dr. Geraldine Cajuigan-Sanchez presented on "The Ethical Care & Welfare Management of Small Laboratory Mammals”. She began her presentation highlighting animal rights, animal welfare, and the responsibilities of the IACUC. She also briefly explained "care management for laboratory mice/rats”. She mentioned; housing systems, environment, nutrition, temperature and ventilation, Illumination, noise, sanitation, water, and pest control as the important factors for “care management for laboratory mice/rats”. And she ended her presentation by talking about the methods of identification, record keeping, and transportation of the small mammals of the laboratory. Similarly, our second guest speaker of the first session, Dr. Napoleon Manuel T. Almelor III gave his presentation on “The Care and Nutrition of Small Exotic Mammal Companions”. In his presentation he gave a detailed description of “A Clinical Practice Approach On Small Mammals” where he mainly explained; Patient History, Housing & Husbandry, Nutrition, and Physical Examination of Rabbits, HedgeHogs, and Guinea Pigs. He too answered all the queries of our participants. And at the end of the first session, a game called “ Guess the Gibberish” was played to entertain all the participants, moderated by Charles Flores and Rein Inocando. After the completion of the first session, we had a break for one and half hours. After that the second was continued with much enthusiasm from our guest speaker Mr. Kevin D. Tuazon and his topic of the presentation was “Small Mammals as Alternative Agricultural Food Resources' '. He started his presentation with the history of rabbits. And he continued his presentation by talking about its; life span, habits, value in the market, meat & its composition, pet types, digestive system, etc. He also explained the advantages and disadvantages of rabbits to humans. And he finally concluded his presentation elaborating on the management, nutrition, diseases, and genetics of rabbits. He also replied very keenly and logically to each of the questions from the chat box. I would also like to acknowledge all the participants who registered a google form to be a part of this conference and joined us today with great eagerness. I could see some of the eco generation member in all 3 days, thanks for joining. Day 3: On this closing day of virtual conference on small mammals, we had Dr. Manoj Kumar Mahato (Veterinary Officer at Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Service Expert Center, Sunsari, Nepal), Dr. Arjun Thapa [Founding President- Small Mammals Conservation and Research Foundation(Smcrf)], Atty. Heidi Marques(Caguioa : Program Director, Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc.), Dr. Jorge Villamil(On-call Veterinarian at Villa Alfredo Wildlife Project & Paradise Ranch Gazebo Park & Zoocobia Wildlife Park and Clark El Kabayo Riding Stables, Project Consultant at MultiFresh, Inc. (Organic Livestock and Crops Production & Marketing Ventures) and provides veterinary technical consultancy to client farm and ranches in Luzon areas), and Dr. Marie Shella Ordinario[OIC-Section Head of the Animal Information and Advocacy Services/Animal Welfare Unit (BAI)] as our panelist. And we had discussions related to the conservation, welfare, laws and regulations, poaching and illegal hunting, effect of climate change, diseases, veterinary procedures, breeding and translocation of small mammals, etc. with each of the panelists. And we got many satisfying answers from the entire panelist. We are very much thankful for it. Our panelists also answered many questions dropped by our participants on the chatbox. But due to time constraints, we couldn’t address all the questions from participants. At last, the certificate of appreciation was distributed to all the panelists, and finally, the 3 days long virtual conference on small mammals ended with closing remarks. I would also like to express our sincere gratitude towards IVSA Paklihawa and PSAU Family for such a wonderful, cooperative, and friendly collaboration. It was the best memory with you all. Hope we can collaborate again in the future.

Youth Meena Pandey

4 Comments

Yuseon Mentor says :
Hi Meena,

This is your mentor Yuseon:D

With so many panelists participating, it must have been a great opportunitiy both
for the participants and you who conducted this event successfully. I remember
reading about your previous report promoting the webinar. Thanks for sharing the
summary of the three days event.

Small mammals have so many vital danger going on, such as animal experiments, or green ecosystem disorder. Hope the discussed details would help their quality of life.

Keep up the good work!

Posted 12-08-2021 14:45

Debbie Mentor says :
Dear Meena,

This is your mentor Debbie. :)
It's great that there were so many participants in the Zoom webinar. I'm sure it was an inspiring time for the participants. I feel that small mammals such as rabbits might be more important in our ecosystem than we imagine. We should cherish all living organisms around us.

Green Cheers,
Debbie
Posted 02-08-2021 01:18

Shobha Pokhrel