Dr Kang’ethe describes herself as a girl in the wild. Her days are characterised by attending to animals medically, calling out to them, and many times, having full conversations with them. Wild, right?
Even though she is one with the entire animal kingdom, two of them typify her spirit. “An elephant is a gentle giant but a leader nonetheless. A lioness is a strong decision-maker, a symbol of power, and holds pride together. I am both,” she says.
Her earliest involvement in animal care goes back to her days in primary school. Her closeness to family and friends in veterinary medicine fuelled her passion for animals and inspired her to study veterinary medicine at The University of Nairobi, graduating in 2019. “Animals are family,” she says.
"An elephant is a gentle giant but a leader nonetheless. A lioness is a strong decision-maker, a symbol of power, and holds pride together. I am both."
Working at Kenya’s only chimpanzee sanctuary, where she has 29 of the primates under her care, has taught her patience. “It is an alluring enticement that I couldn’t resist. Their intelligence is attractive and their intentions pure. But one challenge you face as a Vet is that they can’t speak. This makes diagnosis more difficult since you have to rely on symptoms alone. Your patients can’t tell you what ails them.”
Experiencing animal cruelty has been her biggest career heartbreak. She uses this hurt as the foundation of her career’s purpose—conservation. In her line of duty, she has witnessed many deaths, but none has stayed with her, like a distress call from a dying pregnant rhino earlier in her career. She might have cried a whole bucket that day. “To lose the present and the future—the mother and the calf is too costly for an already endangered species.”
What does spending nearly all her time with animals mean to her social fabric? “Living in the wild can isolate you, I maximise the available time I have during my leave and off days. I make a point to do video calls with my loved ones. Having a social support system is crucial in my nature of work, especially for my mental health.”
What key lessons has she taken from the wilderness? “Animals teach us every day that doing it as a team not only makes a task easier, but it builds community.”
She believes that life starts at 30 and can’t wait to start living in the next six months. She loses herself in a good book when not in the wild caring for animals.
– By Ndugu Abisai
