"Hi, I am Dr Mikhail Goncharuk. I am a specialist wildlife vet, an expert in big cat anaesthesia - and passionate about tigers and leopards.

I was lucky enough to be mentored by WVI founder, the late Dr John Lewis, for over a decade. I can honestly say that meeting John, and the knowledge he shared with me, totally changed my life.

It began when I was invited to work on a project looking at disease risks that might affect plans for the reintroduction of the Amur leopard – and led to me becoming the professional wildlife vet that I am today. The knowledge that John passed on to me, I now do my best to pass on to today’s vet students, other vets, rangers and field biologists.

As well as caring for sick and conflict animals, my recent work has involved sampling small carnivores in Kazakhstan, to find out if there are any diseases present that we need to take account of before the possible reintroduction of tigers to Central Asia. It is really great to be able to use the Disease Risk Assessment we produced for Amur leopards – the first of its kind for big cats – as the blue print for this exciting project.

Before I met John, there was no way for me to access specialist training in wildlife health. To anyone with the chance to partner with WVI I would say – and often do – ‘Almost everything you praise me for today, I owe to WVI, and to John in particular. Do not miss this opportunity!’

Please support WVI and help more people like me get the essential training they need to have the competence and confidence to protect threatened species. Thank you!"

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