Virtually ignored by veterinary schools until now, the care andmanagement of wildlife populations has fallen to wildlife biologists and ecologists. That's about to change, according to Dr. Walter Boyce, a professor of veterinary microbiology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Contending that "few veterinarians have acquired the skills and ecological perspectives needed to meet public expectations for the conservation and preservation of wildlife resources," Boyce and colleague Thomas Yuill at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have embarked on a three-year project to develop a comprehensive national education strategy for wildlife health instruction at the two veterinary medical schools. The first step was taken at a two-day workshop in Fort Collins, Colo., this summer. Researchers, conservation biologists and practicing wildlife veterinarians met to try to integrate their expertise. Several students are now in training programs at the two schools, which will eventually produce "veterinarians with strong backgrounds in ecology who are capable of addressing the complex problems that threaten animal health and biodiversity over the entire planet," Boyce says.