Dr. Diana DeBlanc, founder and president of Veterinary Conservation Coalition, is an equine veterinarian in New Mexico.  A unique opportunity to work with a baby rhino at the Denver Zoo in her senior year of vet school inspired a lifelong passion and love for the rhino.

In 2017, Diana volunteered at Care for Wild, an orphanage for baby rhino, and returned in 2019 as their in-house vet.  The experience left her avidly committed to conservation of the species.

Diana also worked with the Council of Contributors for two and a half years, helping fundraise for private reserves who protect and care for the rhino, before setting off on her own to start Veterinary Conservation Coalition.

She has raised money to fund over twenty projects in South Africa that have included dehorning, translocation, providing critical veterinary care, and helping create a bloodwork databank.

Dr. DeBlanc leads groups to reserves in South Africa to learn hands-on in the field about rhino and wildlife conservation.  It is her goal to bring awareness, both through education and fundraising, that will make a difference in aiding the reserves desperately need to safeguard endangered species.

She honors and cherishes the reserve owners and veterinarians on the front lines who work tirelessly to keep rhino safe from poaching and compassionately tend to the survivors.

Imagine spending all of your money on security and cameras and fencing, so much so that there’s nothing left in the operating budget at the end of the month.  How do you care for the animals on your reserve when you have spent everything protecting them?

Veterinary Conservation Coalition funds fill the gap for reserve owners, covering the costs of routine and emergency veterinary care, funding rhino dehorning projects, financing supplemental feed programs, and supporting reserve-wide conservation efforts.