The core work of the Veterinary Department is to treat any clinical problems that occur in the Zoo’s animal collection.
This often involves procedures such as surgery, taking x-rays, performing ultrasound examinations, taking blood samples, dental work, and giving medications, and is as varied as the animals that we treat.
Many of our patients need to be anaesthetised to undertake these procedures, in some cases to reduce the stress on the animal and at other times because the animal is dangerous.
Cases can be as varied as:
- an ultrasound of a tree kangaroo’s heart to investigate a heart murmur (see movie below)p
- performing a root canal on a Spotted Hyaena (see movie below) and removing an orangutan’s tooth
- fixing a wild cockatoo’s broken wing
- treating an echidna for ringworm (see movie below)
- handraising Numbats and Dibblers
- treating an iguana with a swollen tongue
