THREE RIVERS AREA — Imagine spending your free time working with exotic animals such as Siberian and Bengal tigers, mountain lions and African penguins.
That is what Courtney Dunn has been doing for the last four years. A graduate of Midland High School in Pleasant Plains and a senior at the University of Central Arkansas, she has been around a variety of animals from a very early age.
“I grew up on a free-range beef-cattle farm in rural Arkansas and always felt like the animals were a part of my family,” Dunn said. “But as I got older, I realized I wanted to do more than just care for them. I wanted to become involved with conservation and zoology, too. I wanted to help preserve species for all the future generations.”
Dunn said many children have watched television shows about wild animals, such as elephants and tigers, and many kids even have stuffed animals designed after those creatures, but she is quick to point out that without conservation efforts, children 20 years from now may live in a world where these animals are extinct.
“I really wanted to be able to do something,” Dunn said, “so while still in high school, I started working at the Bald Knob Veterinary Clinic.”
Later, after starting classes at UCA in Conway, Dunn secured an internship with the Memphis Zoo and worked with African penguins and other birds, then worked with a variety of animals such as African elephants, white rhinos and giraffes. Dunn currently rotates her weekends between working at the Memphis Zoo and the National Tiger Sanctuary in Missouri, where she works with Siberian and Bengal tigers, mountain lions, African lions and Javan leopards.
“All the animals at the sanctuary are retired cats, or they are from private owners,” Dunn said.
Dunn has applied to veterinary school and hopes to be accepted for the 2012 fall term. She is also a lead activist for Greenpeace and has been selected to receive special leadership training because of her efforts.
“After doing research with one of my college professors, I was invited to intern with her at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, which is the research site for the Smithsonian National Zoo,” Dunn said. “I got to work alongside some of the world leaders in conservation research, and it was just amazing because few undergraduates are ever invited to go there.”
Dunn said she mainly worked with birds while at the Smithsonian facility, but she also gained valuable experience working with clouded leopards. Dunn is working to raise money for a plane ticket to South Africa, where she has been selected to work at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. She won the lodging, training and support portions of the trip but has to raise funds for the $2,000 airfare and any living expenses while she is there.
The foundation is an internationally recognized leader in seabird rehabilitation and is most popular for helping save more than 19,000 oiled penguins from the Treasure oil spill. According to the foundation’s website, the Treasure was an oil tanker that spilled about 1,300 tons of oil, endangering more than 40 percent of the African penguin species. A book titled The Great Penguin Rescue was written about the event. More than 12,000 volunteers from around the world came to help the foundation during that time.
“I first heard about them when I started interning at the Memphis Zoo,” Dunn said. “We did a collaborative research project with them, and I have wanted to travel and work there ever since but didn’t have the means to do it until winning this contest.”
Dunn will be in South Africa for six weeks, starting at the end of May, and will stay at the AVIVA House in Capetown. AVIVA is a volunteer agency that coordinates volunteers from all around the world to work at worthy nonprofit organizations. Dunn is the only student chosen from an Arkansas college, but she will join other students from colleges around the world, who will be her co-workers for the six-week period.
To raise money, she is working part time at UCA in the International Program, where she greets international students who are new to Arkansas and guides them through their first semester. She also has a website, www.gofundme.com/Save-the-Penguins, where people can make donations toward her travel expenses.
Dunn encourages other high school and college students to become involved with helping animals, even if only on a small scale.
“High school kids can look into their local 4-H clubs and check with their local animal shelters,” she said. “Some veterinary clinics will also let students shadow their veterinarians to learn more about animal health.”
Dunn recommends that college students check out the Association of Zoos and Aquariums website, where information on internships and volunteer opportunities is available.
“Remember that you are working with animals, and these jobs can start out difficult and dirty at times, but it pays off in the end,” Dunn said. “You just have to be motivated.”
Dunn credits her grandmother as being a perfect role model and helping her gain the motivation that has helped her achieve her goals.
“She was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, and by the time the doctors found it, it had progressed throughout her body,” Dunn said of her grandmother. “They said it was terminal, and they only gave her two years to live, but that didn’t stop her. Between chemotherapy and doctor visits, she kept on with her demanding job as Jackson County clerk. State officials called her efforts truly amazing.”
Dunn said her grandmother survived for four years, not just two. Dunn said it was that courage and determination that taught her what it means to put everything you have into what you love, and that is exactly what she is doing.
“I am really proud that yet another Midland graduate is going to experience South Africa and for such a good cause” said Karen Wells, one of Dunn’s former high school teachers. “She has been involved with volunteer work for animals for quite a long time, and she has all of our support.”
Dunn said the volunteer part is what seems to surprise and interest so many people. They can’t believe she does all the work for free, but Dunn said that isn’t even important.
“Even though I don’t get paid, I feel that these experiences are some of the most rewarding things I can do,” she said. “The happiness I get from making a difference for the animal in my care is simply something that money can’t buy.”
Three Rivers, Pages 136 on 11/13/2011