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Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventure here on the Zoo’s website!
When most people attempt to visualize the process of conservation, they might think of someone who ventures out into the wilderness to assist and protect animals in their natural habitat. But as we saw this past Wednesday, people can contribute to conservation in many different ways.
On one of the most exciting days of the internship thus far, we took a visit to the San Diego Zoo’s hospital. It was there that we were introduced to Mr. Matthew Marinkovich, a Veterinarian working for the hospital during his residency period. His job is to provide regular checkups for the Zoo’s many different animals and to treat them should they get sick. However, since the hospital’s patients on a given day can range from eagles to elephants, there’s much more variety involved in his line of work compared to that of a traditional doctor.
As Mr. Marinkovich gave us a tour of the hospital’s facilities, I noticed that most of them reflected this element of variety. The conference room has a library full of references spanning decades of research in animal medicine. Given that the hospital is responsible for the well-being of hundreds of species, it has to have as much information on hand as it can. Meanwhile, in the radiology room, the veterinarians have several tools that can be used for a wide range of species. Among these are an ultrasound machine, an ophthalmoscope (an instrument commonly used by optometrists to examine the inside of an eye), and several other devices that are regularly used on humans. As previously mentioned, however, the diversity of the species that the hospital treats means that an animal could develop a condition that is not immediately recognizable. When this happens, the veterinarians need to conduct some detective work.
First, they consult the keepers at the Zoo that care for the animal, asking questions like, “What has this animal been eating recently?” and “Have any other animals been introduced to the exhibit?” Once this information has been obtained, veterinarians then observe the animal themselves as it lives in its exhibit, watching for any signs of sickness like aggression or decreased movement. In order to safely restrain an animal for an examination, the Zoo often uses mechanisms like squeezes, which enable vets to administer anesthesia without putting either the animal or the person at risk. When an animal is too big for the squeeze cage, then vets will often use other ways to anesthetize it, including dart guns that they can shoot from a safe distance.
After bringing the animal to the hospital, the veterinarians then check its vitals (e.g. heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature) and give it medication in the form of antibiotics, antifungals, intravenous fluids, or gastroprotectants when applicable. Due to a lack of research in the field of exotic animal medicine, they sometimes have to make do with the limited knowledge they get from the hospital archives and recordings of previous procedures. However, their diligence almost always leads to the animal’s full recovery.
Thanks to the hard work of the veterinarians at the hospital, the San Diego Zoo is able to keep carrying out its mission to research and protect animals from around the world. Nevertheless, we need to dedicate more research towards the advancement of exotic animal medicine in order to further the effectiveness of the field. Giving veterinarians the resources to keep zoo animals healthy and happy would go a long way towards the conservation of all animals.
Throughout the day, Mr. Marinkovich referred to a recent patient, a ring-tailed lemur who is also named Matthew, as an example of an animal who had a full recovery. However, lemurs in their native habitat of Madagascar also suffer from a problem that can be easily remedied: habitat loss. In order to help Matthew’s distant relatives, people can rely on organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council to determine which manufacturers use sustainable resources and are safe to purchase from. Deforestation is just one of the many problems that conservationists hope to fix.
Sunwoo, Conservation Team
Week Four, Fall Session 2017
When most people attempt to visualize the process of conservation, they might think of someone who ventures out into the wilderness to assist and protect animals in their natural habitat. But as we saw this past Wednesday, people can contribute to conservation in many different ways.
On one of the most exciting days of the internship thus far, we took a visit to the San Diego Zoo’s hospital. It was there that we were introduced to Mr. Matthew Marinkovich, a Veterinarian working for the hospital during his residency period. His job is to provide regular checkups for the Zoo’s many different animals and to treat them should they get sick. However, since the hospital’s patients on a given day can range from eagles to elephants, there’s much more variety involved in his line of work compared to that of a traditional doctor.
As Mr. Marinkovich gave us a tour of the hospital’s facilities, I noticed that most of them reflected this element of variety. The conference room has a library full of references spanning decades of research in animal medicine. Given that the hospital is responsible for the well-being of hundreds of species, it has to have as much information on hand as it can. Meanwhile, in the radiology room, the veterinarians have several tools that can be used for a wide range of species. Among these are an ultrasound machine, an ophthalmoscope (an instrument commonly used by optometrists to examine the inside of an eye), and several other devices that are regularly used on humans. As previously mentioned, however, the diversity of the species that the hospital treats means that an animal could develop a condition that is not immediately recognizable. When this happens, the veterinarians need to conduct some detective work.
First, they consult the keepers at the Zoo that care for the animal, asking questions like, “What has this animal been eating recently?” and “Have any other animals been introduced to the exhibit?” Once this information has been obtained, veterinarians then observe the animal themselves as it lives in its exhibit, watching for any signs of sickness like aggression or decreased movement. In order to safely restrain an animal for an examination, the Zoo often uses mechanisms like squeezes, which enable vets to administer anesthesia without putting either the animal or the person at risk. When an animal is too big for the squeeze cage, then vets will often use other ways to anesthetize it, including dart guns that they can shoot from a safe distance.
After bringing the animal to the hospital, the veterinarians then check its vitals (e.g. heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature) and give it medication in the form of antibiotics, antifungals, intravenous fluids, or gastroprotectants when applicable. Due to a lack of research in the field of exotic animal medicine, they sometimes have to make do with the limited knowledge they get from the hospital archives and recordings of previous procedures. However, their diligence almost always leads to the animal’s full recovery.
Thanks to the hard work of the veterinarians at the hospital, the San Diego Zoo is able to keep carrying out its mission to research and protect animals from around the world. Nevertheless, we need to dedicate more research towards the advancement of exotic animal medicine in order to further the effectiveness of the field. Giving veterinarians the resources to keep zoo animals healthy and happy would go a long way towards the conservation of all animals.
Throughout the day, Mr. Marinkovich referred to a recent patient, a ring-tailed lemur who is also named Matthew, as an example of an animal who had a full recovery. However, lemurs in their native habitat of Madagascar also suffer from a problem that can be easily remedied: habitat loss. In order to help Matthew’s distant relatives, people can rely on organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council to determine which manufacturers use sustainable resources and are safe to purchase from. Deforestation is just one of the many problems that conservationists hope to fix.
Sunwoo, Conservation Team
Week Four, Fall Session 2017
