Nat Geo WILD’s Dr. Oakley to the Rescue

Though Oakley lives in the Yukon where winter temps plummet to 69 below zero Fahrenheit sheamp8217s talking with me in the climatecontrolled lobby of a Beverly Hills hotel amp160Her daughters Sierra 21 Maya 19 and Willow 14 often seen on the show surround her on the couch amp160Oakley talks as openly and forcefully in person as she does on the series Of course itamp8217s not as if there could be multiple takes while sedating a Kodiak bear then scurrying out of his way when the tranquilizer was not quite enoughamp8220There are no doovers with wildlifeamp8221 Oakley says amp160amp8220You either catch it or you donamp8217tamp8221She works at catching them by riding shotgun in helicopters skiing wading through rivers running and aiming her tranquilizer gun at fastmoving targets with the precision of a sharp shooter amp160Oakley wears her badass badge proudlyThat independence was fostered growing up in Munster Indiana a town changing from rural to suburban An outdoorsy kid she explored the paths that led to the nearby forest and searched for animals particularly wounded creatures she could try to nurse back to health amp160When she wasnamp8217t tracking woodland creatures after school Oakley was watching any nature documentary she could amp160When a series on Jane Goodall aired she recorded it back in the VCR days amp160Oakley watched that tape until it finally wore outTo share space on the same network as her hero thrills her amp160Read about Nat Geoamp8217s awardwinning documentary Jane hereamp160 Oakley recalls meeting the primatologist at 11 amp160Her consistently supportive mom allowed her to skip school and drove her animalcrazed daughter to Chicagoamp8217s Lincoln Zoo to meet her hero With the zealous intensity and unshakeable belief found in children Oakley blurted her adoration to Goodall and her plan that she was going to go work with her amp160Rather than scoff at the child Goodall told her that she believed she wouldGoodall was right though instead of studying the chimps of Tanzania Oakley studies a wide range of animals over vast tundra amp160She admits that when she initially applied for a summer program during her studies at the University of Michigan Oakley was not sure where this huge stretch of northwestern Canada wasamp160 amp8220My choices were frogs in Costa Rica or ground squirrels in the Yukonamp8221 she recalls amp160amp8220I literally had no idea where the Yukon was but it sounded kind of like Yucatan which I imagined to be very wild and very warm and I liked squirrels and I liked the thought of camping all summeramp8221The area she covers is roughly the size of Alaska and only about 30000 people live there most of them in Whitehorse amp160Oakley speaks with the reverence found among those who have experienced unsullied nature and who understand the damage mankind is wreakingamp8220There are lots of wilderness places in the worldamp8221 she notes amp160amp8220The Yukon is the largest intact ecosystem with no people living there amp160It is a wilderness we have to fight for amp160There is nothing like it in the world amp160If we want these places wild we have to fight for themamp8221This season she wrangles a herd of bison as it heads to a new home and helps an eagle with head trauma in the Yukon amp160She also travels to the French Alps to learn about the indigenous ibex and in Sweden learns about the brown bear populationAll of this helps with her clinic run from her home amp160Oakley also has a mobile vet unit which allows her to go where the animals areamp160 She tends to wolverines bison black bears owls eagles caribou moose and lynx On the show the veterinarian has taken on some tough cases amp160Working with assistants she extracted dozens of quills from a dog after it had a serious fight with a porcupine amp160She even found a small quill that had lodged under the pupamp8217s bottom eyelid and some in his throatOakley has also tended to an especially gaseous moose calf and relieved its bloating amp160She once scooped chewed grass out of the infected cheek of a reindeer then medicated the infection amp160Oakley has even castrated wild boar which may well be the single best example of what amp8220badassamp8221 meansNone of this is for the delicate who prefer their animals to be kittens on the couch amp160But thatamp8217s why we watch Where most people would run away say from a bearamp8217s enclosure Oakley very carefully moves in amp160She knows her patients admitting amp8220I was really pretty terrified of that bearamp8221That Kodiak was about 1200 pounds amp160amp8220He was anesthetized and woke up and stood up and we were all scattered aroundamp8221 Oakley recalls of that shoot amp160amp8220I am responsible for everyone but of course when my daughter was there it was a whole other thingamp8221She smiles at her daughters Oakley understands the most basic part of animals amp8211 mothers protecting their young no matter the dangerDr Oakley Yukon Vet is telecast Saturday at 9amp160pm on Nat Geo WILDClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Nat Geo WILD’s Dr. Oakley to the Rescue

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Jacqueline Cutler

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Nat Geo WILD’s Dr. Oakley to the Rescue

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