Collaborative Health Care at the Zoo by Tim L. Tetzlaff

As most dog lovers know, some dogs love going to the veterinarian’s office, but that’s less than half and almost a fifth exhibit fear-related aggression.

Now imagine this scenario: You walk your dog into the clinic where your veterinarian is kneeling holding a syringe. You have a seat while your dog walks over to the vet and leans a hip into the needle to get a shot. Next your dog flops on its side and presents a paw for the veterinary technician to draw blood from its leg.

Now imagine instead of this being a golden retriever, it’s a giraffe presenting his hoof for trimming; or a Florida panther coming up for an intramuscular injection; or how about an alligator coming out of the water to get its blood drawn. Yes, even alligators. This is the daily life of the animal care and veterinary teams at Naples Zoo.

Over thirty animal care staff coordinate efforts similar to the examples above and well beyond to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the zoo’s animals – with insights on enrichment and training from Naples Zoo’s Behavioral Husbandry Manager Julie Bragovich. Of course, health care is a critical element of wellbeing so Naples Zoo’s veterinarian
Dr. Kelsie Stovall and veterinary technicians Brittany Rogers and Sara Levine work alongside the keepers to ensure animals are comfortable while any animal voluntarily participates in procedures.

“As a veterinarian, this is a tremendous benefit to me as I don’t need to weigh the stress of getting a diagnostic test against an animal’s overall welfare for every animal that voluntarily participates in these procedures,” explains Dr. Stovall. “I can more readily access critical medical data and provide treatment without the need for physical restraint or needing chemical immobilization. This also means I have more accurate laboratory results to diagnose any issues as stress impacts those numbers.”

As you can imagine given the domestic dog example above, each behavior can take a long time as trust is built. But the rewards are profound. Because of these relationships, Naples Zoo keepers can provide care hard to imagine otherwise. For example, the alligators know their names and identify their own unique colored disc on the end of a pole and will walk up and touch their snout to it. You can see this in action at the daily Alligator Bay Feeding. This allows staff to call individuals out of the water to assess their body condition and even have them get on a scale. Last year, when reptile keeper Vittoria Vaturi noted a female alligator’s abdomen appeared larger than normal, the veterinary team was able to take radiographs to confirm the alligator was retaining eggs. This allowed them to treat her and to take follow up radiographs to confirm she had passed all the eggs – all in a setting where she could walk away at any point. Likewise, the team was able to radiograph a male alligator’s leg injury and take a culture which allowed them to identify two different bacteria and target the antibiotics to successfully treat him.

Daily efforts like these ensure the animals you see on a zoo visit live their best life possible here in Naples. And if you’d like the same for your own pet, talk to your veterinarian about recommended practices for a calm visit to the clinic and check out the resources dedicated to pet owners at www.fearfreepets.com. Fido may not run to your veterinarian to get a shot, but you’ll have a much better appointment – and so will your beloved pet!

by Tim L. Tetzlaff, Director of Conservation, Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens

Far from the simple menageries of past, today’s nationally accredited zoos are centers of learning and natural crossroads for biologists, educators, environmental scientists, and researchers – as well as for students, conservationists, and all animal lovers. Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens is a trusted, private 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving wildlife and families here and around the world. To learn more about how you can help, email Naples Zoo’s Director of Conservation at tim@napleszoo.org.