There'll be sun and sand but no sin. They'll be stalking elusive prey, but it won't be over giant margaritas or at wet T-shirt contests.

For 14 veterinary medicine students from University of California, Davis, spring break this week in San Diego has a rather serious purpose: mastering some skills crucial for studying and protecting wildlife.

There'll be lessons in tagging, tracking and studying mountain lions, bighorn sheep and other animals native to the Southern California landscape and demonstrations on capturing and restraining large, wild and unwilling species.

The students - some already practicing veterinarians - are thinking little about scrapping a week of vacation when they have this chance to sharpen their prowess at wild animal care.

"For me, it's all about taking advantage of spring breaks and other vacations to get further educational opportunities," said Katie Frank, a second-year student who spent her last spring break helping the state Department of Fish and Game capture deer.

"But I usually get to go to interesting places, have a little fun and remind myself why I work my tush off while I'm in school."

Frank and her classmates departed Sunday and will spend the week with wildlife veterinarian Mike Ziccardi, who'll lead them through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the fire-ravaged Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and on behind-the-scenes tours of Sea World and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, part of the San Diego Zoo.

"These are students who have already had some hands-on experience with individual animals," Ziccardi said. "This trip takes it to the next level, where they can get the tools to assess the health of wildlife on a population level."

At Anza-Borrego, students will learn from UC Davis wildlife veterinarian Walter Boyce, who is in the second year of a mountain lion study in the 600,000-acre park in eastern San Diego County. Students will get a chance to be part of Boyce's research by helping him tag the lions and the mule deer and bighorn sheep they prey on with radio collars.

Boyce's research also will take the Davis students to closed-down Cuyamaca Rancho State Park where the wildlife disappeared after last October's devastating Cedar Fire.

"After a big fire like that, we won't see a ton of wildlife but will hopefully see signs of how they will start to come back," said Julia Burco, a practicing vet who is working on a master's degree in preventative veterinary medicine. "What's most interesting to me is the concept of ecosystem health and looking at wildlife as initiators of the rest of the ecosystem."

The students' field work won't be limited to terrestrial species or even native ones.

At Sea World, they'll get a behind-the-scenes look at how veterinarians there care for captive species and lessons in rehabilitating wildlife injured in oil spills. And at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, there'll be a chance to see how wildlife vets immobilize and restrain some rather exotic animals like rhinos and tigers.

"It's great that we'll be seeing the non-public stuff," Frank said. "To be right there and see how they do a chemical knockdown and restraint is a real opportunity."