Preventive medicine is the use of medical principals and techniques to prevent the occurrence of disease or injury. Preventing disease and injury is preferable to treating a disease or an injury after it has already occurred. Exotic and wild animals have evolved to hide illness as long as possible. Once these animals finally show signs of illness they are often in advanced stages of disease, making successful treatment difficult.
Prevention is key to their health, longevity, and reproduction.
Animals arriving from outside the Zoo may be carrying hidden infectious diseases that could spread to our other animals. To prevent this, animals are quarantined upon arrival for at least 30 days before being released into the main Zoo. Tests include fecal examinations for parasites, stool cultures for disease organisms, blood cell and serum assays, radiographs, tuberculosis tests, and a host of others. The duration of quarantine is extended as needed. Diagnosis of the cause of death at necropsy helps the veterinary department prevent the spread or recurrence of the disease through appropriate treatment, or changes in how we care for the animals.