Vet
Veterinary care
Sharon Redrobe ( Head of Veterinary Services) and Kellie Wyatt ( Zoo Veterinary Nurse) rarely have an 'average day' at Bristol Zoo Gardens.
Zoo vet work varies enormously, a routine day may range from examining a sick sloth, health checking Socorro doves (extinct in the wild), to radiographing (x-raying) a piranha or operating on a toucan.
What do you do when the Red Panda gets ringworm but won't take the medicine? Shampooing under general anaesthesia meant a busy morning for everyone.
When a penguin gets a foot infection and requires a skin graft, there's no alternative but to fit him with clogs, much to the amusement of the visitors.
There are 12,000 animals at Bristol Zoo Gardens covering 300 species so every day is busy but never dull. Reptiles, birds, mammals, fish and invertebrates all need different sorts of attention.
New Residency
New vet on the team
In June 2004, Brigitte Reusch, a graduate of the Royal Veterinary College, London University, took up the position of Bristol Zoo Gardens' Rabbit Welfare Fund Resident.
As well as learning about zoo animal medicine, Brigitte, has helped set up this first dedicated rabbit clinic in the UK. She has done this with the support of Bristol University.
The clinic offera a first opinion and referral service for challenging rabbit cases. Consultations are seen every Wednesday at the Small Animal Hospital, Langford, Bristol.
Health care
Health care
Modern veterinary health care requires a lot of equipment - rigid endoscopy for looking inside animals, portable radiography, general monitoring equipment including a Vitalscan (which monitors the heart, pulse blood oxygen and blood pressure), ultrasonography as well as surgery equipment.
All this is used by the vet team in the routine health screening of all the zoos animals. The veterinary department also runs a training programme for the zookeepers. This way they have an appreciation of what procedures their animals have experienced and why these are necessary.
The Vet's work is not only within the confines of the Zoo. Bristol Zoo Gardens supports Ape Action Africa (formerly CWAF), which cares for young gorillas, chimpanzees and other species, orphans of the 'bushmeat' trade. Sharon has visited CWAF, treating infant gorillas and chimps and discussing health programmes for both primates and humans with the Pasteur Institute.
- See also
- Zoo facts
