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react. Every day is a new challenge
and it’s full of surprises, which you
kind of really don’t get by just working
every day and doing the same
routine. I love that. I love that experience
where you get different surprises
every day,” said Perry.
Following her eight months in Zimbabwe,
Perry traveled to South Africa from
2018 to 2019 to do similar work with
animals. In between those trips, she also
visited Kenya and Tanzania to track and
research the wildlife that are native to
those countries.
She considers herself a self-taught
wildlife behaviorist, animal photographer
and activist and has dreams to
open a wildlife reserve of her own in the
future. She shared that Zimbabwe or
South Africa would be her ideal countries
to place an animal sanctuary.
“People really put their lives in danger
just to protect these animals and
I kind of felt that I could relate because
that’s something that I’ve always wanted
to do. They’re not understanding that
unscrupulous hunting and poachers
are causing animals’ numbers to decline
drastically,” Perry said. "I hope to
one day fulfill my biggest dream by
preserving the conservation of species
and spread positivity to the world.
There’s remarkable beauty in the animal
kingdom and if animals become extinct
there won’t be anything left to show.”
She added that she hopes to teach
others the lessons she’s learned in
her work and inspire people the
way that Steve Irwin inspired her as
a child.
For those with similar aspirations to
her own, Perry said that a good place
to start researching opportunities is
online at sites like gooverseas.com or
volunteerforever.com.
“There’s a lot of sanctuaries that
are not for profit or places that are
just opening up now, so they’re just
starting to get that stability where
they would need people to come
there and access. There are programs
where you don’t have to pay and they
do pay you with meals and accommodations.
Then there’s reserves where
you can volunteer and there are incentives
of getting to work hands on
with veterinarians and do some externships.
You get accommodations
and meals and tours,” she said.
Photos courtesy of Sonia Perry
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