European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Dpi photo patient with leg in cast at University of California school of veterinary Medicine. Operating on a Boa Constrictor at the Detroit zoo. Byway Teyoung United press International hey brought the Bear in at lunchtime. While curious Hospital technicians peeked around Corners zoo keepers gently prepared the sedated Teddy Bear size lesser Panda for a cat scan during the Only time of Day human patients weren t scheduled to use the Philadelphia Hospital s expensive equipment. Respected neurosurgeons studied the results intently. There were no signs of abnormalities on the fist size brain of the furry red bundle which actually resembled a Raccoon. Everyone was extremely cooperative said veterinarian Keith c. Hinshaw director of animal health at the Philadelphia zoological gardens. They always Are we be used cat scans at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital a number of times for our  the cooperation among medical doctors and zoo veterinarians in Philadelphia is not at All unusual according to zoo vets nationwide. In fact they say it is indicative of the advancements that have changed the profession in the last decade. Whereas doctoring exotic animals used to be a hit or miss proposition zoo vets now have an extensive store of knowledge on the most obscure of animals. New drugs have Given them the ability to easily Anes Thetie animals and perform surgery never thought possible. Zoo vets estimate they operate 10 times More often now than they did 10 years ago. Advances in human Medicine have also benefited zoo vets who frequently Call on cardiologists paediatricians obstetricians surgeons and dentists for advice and who have Access to new sophisticated diagnostic equipment such As ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. They treat their animals with the same drugs As they do humans put them on diets and provide birth control. As a result they Are spending More and More time on geriatrics As their charges live up to one third past their Normal lifespans. I d say it s been truly remarkable Progress said Emil p. Dolensek chief veterinarian at the Bronx zoo who started As the Park s Only vet in 1969 and who now Heads a staff of five. We used to have to rely on reports of Domestic animals Well if it s Safe in a cow it must be Safe for an Antelope now it s rare that we Don t know what we re  up photo doctoring exotic animals is no longer just a hit or miss operation. A photo up photo siamese in Rochester n. Y., has received a heart pacemaker. Recently Dolensek wearing garage mechanics overalls that did not conceal muscular arms took a group of veterinary students on a tour of the Bronx zoo s Brand new medical Center. The Mammoth operating room is equipped with the latest diagnostic machines Well stocked cabinets and a 5-ton Hook hanging from a Pulley on the ceiling. Sometimes the most difficult part of an operation is getting the patient onto the operating table said Dolensek. His staff recently performed minor Gall bladder surgery on a Walrus. What is a Walrus said Dolensek pausing to Wax philosophic. It is an 850-Pound bag of blubber with no  next to the operating room is the Hospital Ward a Row of steel cages with either Bare climbed Trees or shallow pools whatever makes the occupant More comfortable. The Only patient that Day a Porcupine with an upset stomach sat in misery under the warmth of a heat lamp. Next to his Cage shelves held syringes Cotton Gauze and a shovel. The largest room in the multimillion Dollar medical Center is the morgue with garage Type doors leading to the outside and another 5-ton Hook Over a steel table. Every year 15 percent of the Bronx zoo s 4,260 animals will die of old age disease or occasionally wounds. Each one is brought into this room either whole or in pieces to be carefully dissected and studied. The vital organs Are placed in jars and samples of tissues attached to slides that Are kept Ian sort of lending Library. It is this gruesome procedure performed now for decades that has revolutionized zoo veterinarian Medicine says Dolensek. Zoos All Over the country contribute to this vast store of knowledge which enables ets to track diseases and distinguish healthy tissue from damaged for almost every animal in Captivity. This is the most important this Bank of knowledge said Dolensek waving his hand toward jars of murky liquid. This is How we know what s Normal and what s  it is All a far cry from the Bronx zoo s first written health records. In 1902 or. W. Reid Blair recorded that a Samang Gibbon seemed listless and depressed so he prescribed 1.5 ounces of Blackberry Brandy twice daily. The next morning the Gibbon was dead. Don t think it will be possible to keep this species in Captivity wrote Blair of an animal group now thriving at the same zoo. Forensic records Are not the Only major advancement in zoo Medicine in the last 10 years. A combination of new drugs and excellent records on the exact dosage needed for each species has made it possible to Anes Thetie animals quickly and safely said zoo veterinarians. At one time Anesther timing an animal meant risking its death. Zoo vets operate to remove tutors and abscesses for gallstones and to set Bones broken by run ins with fences or competing animals. But the veterinarians said they Stop Short of major surgery such As kidney transplants or heart bypass operations. You do these things in humans because human life is priceless said Dolensek. An animal is not. There has to be a Point where you say we be done enough.1 " in fact most zoo veterinarians say their jobs consist mainly of preventive Medicine and animal maintenance just As it did in the 1950s when american zoos had Only part time vets and no medical facilities. They study diet and nutrition the proper environment and disease control. And they work Long and hard in reproduction considered by most veterinarians to be the single most important aspect of their Job. There Are so Many endangered species today we have to rely More and More on our own animals to replenish our Stock said Morton Silverman executive director of the american association of zoo veterinarians created in the 1960s by the six full time zoo vets in the United states. Now there Are almost 60 veterinarians who practice full time. Morton said while advances in human Medicine have helped zoo veterinarians reproduction is the one area where the tables Are turned. Zoo vets were performing artificial insemination and in Vitro fertilization on animals Long before the same techniques were available to humans. These things go both ways says Phil Robinson chief vet at the san Diego zoo for 14 years. Oftentimes techniques created by vets can Benefit the medical Community As Well As vice  on the Wall of the Bronx zoo medical Center is an awkward family portrait. The Mother is a gentle wide eyed Holstein cow and her rambunctious offspring is a Burly Black Gaur calf. One is a native of Wisconsin dairies and the other of african Plains. Flossie the cow who still resides at the zoo was the first to successfully undergo in Vitro fertilization of a different species and carry the baby to term. She s an expert embryo Carrier said Dolensek patting Flossie s flank. In zoos across the country veterinarians Stock up on Frozen semen and attempt in Vitro fertilization in their most prize species. Their Success s have produced adorable babies featured in newspapers and named by schoolchildren. Some zoo animals now find mates via computer new York times ids and bees rely on Mother nature to find suitable companions. But some monkeys in Washington and elsewhere need Jonathan d. Ballou and his computer. Ballou plays electronic matchmaker for the Golden lion Tamarin a Small red Orange primate from the rain forests of Brazil. A genealogist at the National zoological Park he keeps track of bloodlines of All such animals in zoos around the world and recommends to zoo keepers the Best combinations for Breeding. For example his computer recently showed that a Tamarin at the National zoo could Best find Breeding Harmony with another Tamarin in the zoo in Cologne Germany. Over the last decade or so other zoo specialists elsewhere have begun to do computer dating for other species Many endangered like the Snow Leopard and the siberian Tiger. The advantage the computers offer is ready Access to extensive genealogical information which most zoos use to minimize in Breeding and to maximize diversity. Ballou said he recommended that 100 Golden lion tamarins be shuffled about worldwide last year. Such efforts he added have helped the Tamarin population in Captivity grow from fewer than 100 in 1970 to More than 400 today. It s sort of like the u.n.," he says of zoological computer dating. You make the recommendation but whether it is carried out is another  in other words the keepers might not agree. Or worse the animals might not hit it off. Page 14 the stars and stripes saturday March 29, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 15