The zoological veterinarian’s role
by Jenny Alonge
People have been attracted to exotic animals since ancient times. The earliest recorded animal collection belonged to Pharaoh Hatshepsut in Egypt, but little was done to address the animals’ welfare until zoological gardens became increasingly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Donations and ticket sales then helped fund research on the animals’ behavior, anatomy, breeding, and nutrition.
The Endangered Species Act enacted in 1973 dramatically changed the zoo’s function, and today, the zoo’s role has pivoted from entertainment to conservation. Zoological veterinarians are now focused on providing the best environment for the animals in their care and studying issues that threaten their natural habitats.
The American College of Zoological Medicine
Zoological medicine integrates veterinary medicine, conservation, and ecology to foster high quality medical care for non-domestic animals in natural and artificial environments. Zoological individuals also actively work to preserve vanishing species through captive propagation programs, careful free-range population management, and national and international conservation programs. The American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM) is a relatively new veterinary specialty. The following is the ACZM’s brief history:
- 1977 — The American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV) executive board initiated efforts to create a specialty board in zoological medicine, but the American Board of Veterinary Specialists (ABVS) denied the application, because they thought they should affiliate with an existing specialty group.
- 1983 — The zoo and wildlife specialty was deemed sufficiently distinct from established specialty colleges, and the ACZM was provisionally approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) house of delegates.
- 1984 — The first ACZM examination was administered to six candidates.
- 1985 — To ensure the major zoological medicine topics were equally represented in the ACZM examination, five subgroups—aquatic, avian, general captive zoo, herptile, and wildlife—were established.
- 1988 — The ACZM, which then included 25 diplomates, was granted full recognition.
- 2000 — The ACZM steering committee collaborated with representatives from the 31 AVMA-accredited colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States and Canada to establish recommendations for veterinary curricula relating to zoological medicine.
- 2021 — AVMA’s 2021 statistics show that the ACZM currently has 232 diplomates.
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
For more than 40 years, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has been the primary zoo and aquarium accrediting body. AZA-accredited facilities must meet rigorous, scientifically based standards that cover the facility’s entire operation, including animal welfare, veterinary care, conservation, and guest experience. Zoos and aquariums that meet these standards provide many long-term benefits for animals, including:
- Protecting animals from extinction — Zoos help save endangered species by keeping them in a safe environment, and protecting them from poachers, predators, and habitat loss. Breeding and transfer programs help sustain a healthy, genetically diverse, and demographically varied population.
- Reintroducing animals to the wild — In 1985, only nine California condors remained in the wild. In 1987, the California Condor Recovery Program collaborated with the San Diego Zoo, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), California Department of Fish and Game, the National Audubon Society, and the Los Angeles Zoo to breed and raise California condors. Care was taken to ensure the birds didn’t imprint on their caregivers. Since the first condors bred in captivity were released into the wild in 1992, the California condor population has grown to more than 400 birds, including 240 who live in the wild. Zoos and aquariums make conservation success stories like this one possible.
- Restoring habitats — Zoos repair ecosystems to support reintroduction and rehabilitation programs for many species—for example, unsustainably grown palm oil threatens the orangutans’ habitat. The Kansas City Zoo started Corridor Restoration for Animals Threatened and Endangered (CREATE), a project that hires local community members in Malaysia to plant, maintain, and grow trees to connect wildlife corridors.
- Rehabilitating animals — Zoos frequently partner with the USFWS to help rescue, rehabilitate and provide care for wild animals, such as sea turtles, manatees, and sea otters, until they can be released back into the wild.
- Educating the public — Zoos and aquariums provide educational programs to help the public understand that their behavior, such as consuming unsustainable seafood and palm oil, impacts many species’ habitats. These programs also help encourage donations for further conservation efforts and research.
- Increasing understanding — Researching the animals’ behaviors and their biological, physiological, and psychological needs helps increase understanding about the animals’ roles and needs in the wild and in managed care. This, in turn, helps drive best animal care practices in zoos and aquariums.
- Improving biodiversity — Zoos and aquariums contribute to scientific research about the effects of climate change, habitat loss, and other threats on the animals in their care, to help promote biodiversity.
Current zoological medicine research
Zoological veterinarians and other experts continue to conduct research to help improve the lives of animals in the wild and in managed care. Current studies include:
- Lead poisoning in bald eagles — Despite the 1991 ban on lead shot use in waterfowl, bald eagles continue to sicken and die from lead poisoning caused by ingesting bullets in carcasses. Cornell University researchers showed that lead ingestion has affected the bald eagles’ long term growth rate and resiliency in the northeast U.S. over the last three decades. This information is helping inform policy decisions and public communication about lead exposure in bald eagles and other wildlife.
- Disease in hoiho chicks — The hoiho are distinctive, yellow-eyed penguins found in New Zealand that are critically endangered—the population has decreased 50% in the last few decades. Massey University, New Zealand, researchers are investigating two diseases, including neonatal respiratory distress and diphtheritic stomatitis, that affect pre-fledgling chicks to help improve chick survival.
- Cancer in Tasmanian devils — Devil facial tumor disease in Tasmanian devils is a transmissible cancer that was first detected in 1996 and has since destroyed 80% of the population. Researchers from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Australia, are working to develop an edible cancer vaccine to address this concerning problem.
Zoological veterinarians play an important role for animals in the wild and in managed care. By providing clinical veterinary care, researching novel diagnostics and therapeutic approaches for wildlife species, and providing leadership in conservation medicine, zoological veterinarians are saving species and promoting wild animal health worldwide.About the author:
About the author
Jenny Alonge received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Mississippi State University in 2002. She then completed an internship in equine medicine and surgery at Louisiana State University. After her internship, she joined an equine ambulatory service in northern Virginia where she practiced for almost 17 years. Alonge later decided to make a career change in favor of more creative pursuits and accepted a job as a veterinary copywriter for Rumpus Writing and Editing in April 2021. She adopted two unruly kittens, Olive and Pops, in February 2022.
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