At the North Carolina Zoo, as in other animal facilities across the nation, modern medical technology is enabling veterinarians to treat animals in ways never before imagined.
In today’s world of medical specialists and their vast array of medicines and equipment, perhaps no doctor has a more diverse or challenging roll than the zoo veterinarian. While human doctors deal with only one species, the zoo doctor cares for hundreds of different creatures – from a four-ton adult elephant to a hummingbird that weighs less than an ounce.
If nothing else, the job is diverse. But luckily, zoo vets now have at their disposal a host of new high-tech treatments and examination techniques that were unheard of in animal medicine and care just a few years ago.
An example of this at the N.C. Zoo occurred recently when zoo staff members transported an adult female gorilla to the N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh to receive a CAT scan.
“The female gorilla had a tumor in her vagina called a squamous-cell carcinoma,” said Dr. Mike Loomis, chief veterinarian at the N.C. Zoo. “Unfortunately, because of the location, it isn’t an operable tumor, so we wanted to evaluate the tumor, see if this particular tumor was a candidate for radiation therapy and then proceed.”
Loomis realized that a CAT scan was necessary and arranged to take the gorilla to the veterinary school at N.C. State in Raleigh. Once in Raleigh, the vet staff anesthetized and intubated the gorilla and then put in an IV catheter. At the veterinary school, the gorilla underwent a CAT scan that showed Loomis and his staff that the tumor was much larger than expected.
“At that point, radiation treatment was really our only choice,” Loomis said. “We got good response from the tumor reduction and now feel that we have given her a number of good years of quality life.”
In an effort to test alternative forms of medical care for its exotic animals, the N.C. Zoo’s vet staff brought in a certified veterinary acupuncturist, who successfully treated two aging patas monkeys. For the zoo, the acupuncture treatment was an area of research that had never been previously used.
Even high-tech communication gets into the act by allowing consultation via the Internet with veterinarians and specialists across the country while animals are still on the X-ray table.
Medical devices, once used only for humans, are now being used on animals. At the zoo, an infusion pump was placed on an antelope suffering from an infection. Ordinarily, in order to give intravenous antibiotics, vets would have to actually catch the animal numerous times to administer its doses of medicine.
Catching animals is always risky, with an increased chance of injuring the animal or having it injure itself. Also, when an animal must be anesthetized for a procedure, it adds to the complexity since there is always a certain amount of risk involved in anesthesia.
The field of zoo medicine is a rapidly evolving science that more and more has begun to rely on treatments and techniques used previously only on humans. Using early detection and cutting-edge treatments, facilities like the N.C. Zoo ensure quality health care for their animal collections.
Tom Gillespie lives in Trinity and is a journalist and public affairs specialist at the North Carolina Zoo.
Tom Gillespie
Zoo Tales – Modern technology, better care
- Tom Gillespie
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Zoo Tales: Aviary a respite from winter's grasp
January and February are seldom thought of as a time for leisurely strolls along trails and stops to smell flowers blooming or to watch colorful birds. But at the N.C. Zoo's R.J. Reynolds Forest Aviary exhibit, that's what's in store for zoo-goers.
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Zoo Tales: Sitatunga an odd antelope
Mention the words African antelopes and, most likely, images of animals roaming vast, arid drylands would appear. But visitors to the North Carolina Zoo are often surprised to learn that one of the park's antelope species, the sitatunga, is classified as semi-aquatic.
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Zoo Tales: Helping hands
Over the years, the mission of the North Carolina Zoo – to encourage understanding of and commitment to the conservation of the world’s wildlife and wild places – has often meant going beyond the park’s walls.
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Sometimes, no matter how well-meaning the actions of a “Good Samaritan” are, young, injured and disoriented animals can be harmed simply because the person trying to help the animal does not know the facts and proper procedures.
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Zoo Tales: Aging animals a concern
Although zoos have always faced the problems of aging animals, today it has become an evolving part of their animal husbandry – learning how to care for older animals and to meet their needs
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Zoo Tales: Bats often misunderstood mammals
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Zoo Tales: Gorillas are treat for Zoo visitors
Though often erroneously called monkeys, gorillas are actually great apes. Gorillas are skilled climbers but spend most of their time on the ground.
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Zoo Tales: Fringe-eared oryx is zoo’s newest antelope
With a nickname like "spear antelope," one could rightly assume that the oryx, one of the N.C. Zoo's newest animal species, would have slender, elongated horns. But then throw in their subfamily name, Hippotraginae (which literally means "horse-goats"), and one might be left guessing.
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Zoo Tales: Ocelots a puzzle to many
Often, visitors to the N.C. Zoo who see ocelots for the first time aren't sure what they are exactly. Larger than a domestic cat but smaller than a leopard or jaguar, the ocelot is a wild cat ranging from South and Central America, through Mexico and into the extreme southern parts of Texas, with rare sightings in Southern Arizona.
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Zoo Tales: Animals beat heat in varying ways
At the N.C. Zoo and at many other zoos and animal facilities, keepers help the animals through a variety of cooling techniques from putting ice into the exhibits for the animals to wallow in to air-conditioned holding areas to ponds within the exhibits.
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