ZIMS at Work: Veterinary programme supports bold mission at Dublin Zoo

In this ZIMS at Work article, veterinarian Frank O’Sullivan takes us inside the team’s work with Dublin Zoo. Here is what he had to say about the mission, including how the team uses Species360 and ZIMS resources to collaborate within the organization and with other experts in the scientific community.

Species360 is a key resource as we can interrogate through ZIMS what medicines have been effective in other zoos answering such questions as: what drug gives the optimal pain relief in a rhino? How can we medicate an elderly tiger with antibiotics without impacting on her kidney function? And which anaesthetic regime is best for a dental on an elder ring-tailed lemur?

Frank O’Sullivan, Veterinarian for Dublin Zoo

Dublin Zoo’s ten-year vision boldly sets out a new direction which sees the zoo transform into a conservation organisation of global impact. This vision has animal welfare and conservation at its core and is rooted in the principle of maintaining biodiversity and conserving the world’s ecoregions whilst becoming recognised leaders in conservation education.  The veterinary programme supports Dublin Zoo’s vision in adopting an integrated approach with animal welfare and conservation as the primary purpose.

Preventative vet care at Dublin Zoo

It’s a thrill to be working with the veterinary team, team leaders, keepers, registrar and all staff where we really focus on prevention and cure. To help us organize our work we segment veterinary activities into key areas to monitor, measure and manage them to reduce zoonotic risk, prevent disease, improve nutrition, and enhance welfare.

The preventive health cycle (Figure 1, below) takes key information from keeper observations, animal movements, nutrition, parasite surveillance, obstetrical events and vet clinical parameters including post-mortem data. The veterinary and animal care team, with assistance from laboratory and ZIMS (Species360 Zoological Information Management System) will then consider these inputs prompting appropriate actions. Progress is monitored. This is a reflective process which utilises Species360 information and scientific inputs to promote health and welfare in the zoo.

---

Pillars of Dublin Zoo veterinary programme

The components of the extended veterinary programme include preventative medicine, clinical care, welfare, and nutrition. In addition, the vet team have legal responsibilities towards effective and prudent use of animal medicines. When using medicines, it is imperative that we monitor the effectiveness and any adverse reactions. 

Species360 is a key resource in this regard as we can interrogate through ZIMS what medicines have been effective in other zoos answering such questions as; what drug gives the optimal pain relief in a rhino? How can we medicate an elderly tiger with antibiotics without impacting on her kidney function? And which anaesthetic regime is best for a dental on an elder ring-tailed lemur?

And just to mention the calendars in ZIMS are fantastic to help keep track of vaccinations due, welfare assessments, upcoming procedures and bacteriology and parasite fecal sampling. 

Biosecurity and protecting native species

Our “island” advantage is ever at risk with the transfer of animals to Ireland. With every move, it is imperative that our veterinary team ensure the safety of those species living here. A key role of the vet team in Dublin zoo is to raise biosecurity awareness and protect the health and welfare of animals.

When we consider transferring any individuals into the zoo from overseas, we are extremely protective by requesting relevant tests and using our quarantine facilities. We don’t want to bring in unintended disease, bacteria, virus, parasite or fungus that was never here before.

Bluetongue virus is the hot topic of the moment as Europe struggles to deal with the climate change linked culoicoides midge spreading the disease to the north. Thankfully, Ireland has not been affected yet, however the risk to all domestic and wild ruminants is worrying. It is even affecting the ex situ movement of species like the bongo for conservation breeding. 

Let’s talk about animal welfare

Animal welfare is foremost in our minds and improving animal welfare standards is an institutional priority for Dublin zoo. 

Part of the responsibility is to give our animal species specific optimal welfare as defined by the five domains model. From a practical viewpoint we use a combination of both resource and animal-based indicators to promote a more comprehensive assessment of animal welfare while being reasonably practical to implement.

In addition to daily keeper and veterinary activities we use Focal Welfare Assessments (FWA) which are carried out by vets and keepers, paying particular attention to geriatric and other animals that need intensive welfare monitoring and management. 

Striker is our elderly zebra, and he has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and fetlock arthritis. His FWA gives confidence that with medical management, he has a very good quality of life enjoying his time with the other zebra on the African savanna. Of course, on occasions we need to manage end of life situations using a BIAZA derived quality of life assessment tool. It’s so important, we preserve their dignity and not allow animals to suffer unnecessarily towards the end.

We submit all animals for post-mortem examination (University College Dublin) not only to satisfy the legal requirement but to learn from and record pathological and histological findings. Post mortem analysis expands our knowledge about a given disease process and fosters improvements in treatment procedures. For example our older cherished orangutan Sibu died recently and the post mortem revealed previous cardiac infarction. We submitted his heart to Twycross Zoo who are  leading research into heart diseases in great apes.

The vet team are very happy to deliver veterinary care 24 hours, 365 days a year in case of any illness or emergency procedure that may be necessary. When we need to, we can mobilise a comprehensive team to deal with whatever emergency happens, and for some reason, many of those can be at weekends! We’ve had success with a caesarean on a siamang gibbon, controlling epilepsy in our amur tiger Tundra, dealing with colic in our hippo Heidi, managing collapse in our aging tapir, Marmaduke, and more recently, helping our tamworth sow to deliver live piglets!

Veterinary team approach to communication at Dublin Zoo

Effective communication is the key to success in any organization and it is no different in the zoo (see Figure 2, above). We host regular Clinpath and Welfare review meetings with vet team, management and keepers. These are really like hospital rounds where we all discuss individual cases together with health and welfare matters at the zoo.

The vet team have both a learning and a teaching mindset. We really enjoy facilitating workshops and training zoo personnel in areas such as zoonoses, nutrition, animal health and food safety. We often reach out for help outside of the zoo and value contacts, both formal and informal, with colleagues in EAZA, BIAZA and EAZWV. We also have great relationships with the veterinary school and UCD. On other occasions we bring in subject specialists including veterinary dentist (Nora Schwitzer), ophthalmologist (Emer Lenehan) and dermatologist (Darragh O Hanlon). What support!

• Frank O’Sullivan, Veterinarian, Dublin Zoo

Many thanks to Dr O’Sullivan for sharing these insights to the great working happening at Dublin Zoo. For more ZIMS at Work stories with Species360 members, go to species360.org/category/zims-at-work/