PETE MORKEL
Peter van der Byl Morkel’s experience includes serving as a State Veterinarian for Kavango and Caprivi Regions; the Wildlife veterinarian with the Namibian Directorate of Nature Conservation and the Game Capture Unit based in Windhoek and in Etosha National Park.
He has managed the Game Capture and Veterinary Services for South African National Parks in all their parks excluding Kruger. On leaving SANParks, he has worked in the private game industry, before taking up the Project Manager position for Frankfurt Zoological Society’s (FZS) Rhino Project in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.
His responsibilities included rhino monitoring and security, alien plant control, organising the burning programme, water management, vehicle maintenance and workshop supervision, purchasing equipment and managing people and finances. He was also busy with wildlife veterinary work in and outside Tanzania. After leaving FZS, he has been largely self-employed, providing veterinary support to Ol Jogi Ranch in Kenya, doing wildlife, cattle and horse work and wildlife work outside Kenya.
His experience largely entails the capture and translocation of African wildlife, having worked in 24 African countries, and he has experience with most of the larger species, especially black rhino, giraffe and elephant. His experience extends to other aspects of wildlife veterinary work including disease management, epidemiology, medicine, surgery and lecturing. He is a member of the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group, Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group, Antelope Specialist Group, Wildlife Health Specialist Groups, and an Associate Member of International Wildlife Veterinary Services