This morning we took a new group of guests up to the Zoo's fascinating hospital. This time we were treated to a blue crowned imperial pigeon, also known as the Victoria crowned pigeon. It's an incredible bird, classified vulnerable, that is found in the lowland swamps of northern New Guinea. It generally lays a single white egg. This particular female was having some mobility issues, so she was being checked out. She had just been anesthetized before we arrived, and the vets were quickly taking radiograph images so as to keep her under for as little time as possible. Thank you to one of our great Zoo members for this pigeon picture!
The vets use anesthesia only when absolutely necessary. When the situation does arise, an oximeter is used to measure the animal's blood oxygen saturation level and heart rate the entire time. Also, intubation is used to ensure full and proper breathing throughout the process. The vets and techs gently maneuvered the beautiful bird taking images from the two angles they needed. They then switched her to straight oxygen, clearing her system of the anesthetics and allowing her to wake up. She woke slowly at first, opening her bright red eyes and looking around at all of the people that were now in the room. Moments later, she fully burst into life, ready to go back home! We learned that some animals wake up gently and go about their business as though nothing happened, where other animals practically explode off of the table, perturbed by the interruption in their day. She calmed back down immediately after seemingly getting her bearings and was taken back to her enclosure. The vets are then able to peruse her radiographs at leisure and discover the source of the issue.
All of the radiographs and CT scans are uploaded to a server, accessible by the vets and keepers from any computer, which comes very much in handy. In some instances, doctors and vets outside of the Zoo have been able to access the images and assist in diagnoses. Our vet showed us some of the radiographs additional capabilities and then demonstrated the darts. Both darts and needles vary greatly in size for use on a diverse range of animals. On rare occasion, a dart will hit but not inject the dosage. In this case, the animal has to be darted a second time. The concern would be the animal falling onto the first dart, resulting in a double dosage of anesthetic. Two precautions are taken to ensure that this is not a problem. First, the anesthetics used have a "white area", a margin of error, so that a little too much is a non-issue. Second, all anesthetics used are reversible; there is an antidote that reverses its effects so the animal remains unaffected. Before we left, one guest attempted to dart Emilio the practice deer, and she made a perfect shot! Way to go! Back through the foot bath and off to muffins, we wrapped up another awesome Zoo morning.
This morning we took a new group of guests up to the Zoo's fascinating hospital. This time we were treated to a blue crowned imperial pigeon, also known as the Victoria crowned pigeon. It's an incredible bird, classified vulnerable, that is found in the lowland swamps of northern New Guinea. It generally lays a single white egg. This particular female was having some mobility issues, so she was being checked out. She had just been anesthetized before we arrived, and the vets were quickly taking radiograph images so as to keep her under for as little time as possible. Thank you to one of our great Zoo members for this pigeon picture!
The vets use anesthesia only when absolutely necessary. When the situation does arise, an oximeter is used to measure the animal's blood oxygen saturation level and heart rate the entire time. Also, intubation is used to ensure full and proper breathing throughout the process. The vets and techs gently maneuvered the beautiful bird taking images from the two angles they needed. They then switched her to straight oxygen, clearing her system of the anesthetics and allowing her to wake up. She woke slowly at first, opening her bright red eyes and looking around at all of the people that were now in the room. Moments later, she fully burst into life, ready to go back home! We learned that some animals wake up gently and go about their business as though nothing happened, where other animals practically explode off of the table, perturbed by the interruption in their day. She calmed back down immediately after seemingly getting her bearings and was taken back to her enclosure. The vets are then able to peruse her radiographs at leisure and discover the source of the issue.
All of the radiographs and CT scans are uploaded to a server, accessible by the vets and keepers from any computer, which comes very much in handy. In some instances, doctors and vets outside of the Zoo have been able to access the images and assist in diagnoses. Our vet showed us some of the radiographs additional capabilities and then demonstrated the darts. Both darts and needles vary greatly in size for use on a diverse range of animals. On rare occasion, a dart will hit but not inject the dosage. In this case, the animal has to be darted a second time. The concern would be the animal falling onto the first dart, resulting in a double dosage of anesthetic. Two precautions are taken to ensure that this is not a problem. First, the anesthetics used have a "white area", a margin of error, so that a little too much is a non-issue. Second, all anesthetics used are reversible; there is an antidote that reverses its effects so the animal remains unaffected. Before we left, one guest attempted to dart Emilio the practice deer, and she made a perfect shot! Way to go! Back through the foot bath and off to muffins, we wrapped up another awesome Zoo morning.
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