Veterinary intern Ambre Thieret (center) assists Dr. Sara Goni Martinez (left) and Dr. Sofia Astorga (right) in monitoring the anesthesia of a howler monkey (Alouatta palliata). Photo courtesy Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center Costa Rica is home to hundreds of species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects—so many, in fact, that the small Central American nation can proudly boast the greatest natural biodiversity in the world. Indeed, some of the world’s most unique and charismatic animals call Costa Rica home, including sloths, jaguars, anteaters, coatimundi, and howler monkeys, among others. Sadly, human activity regularly places Costa Rica’s varied wildlife in danger. Every day, animals are accidentally electrocuted as they try to traverse power lines, hit by cars attempting to cross streets, or intentionally harmed by people who perceive them as pests. The trafficking of native wildlife and ongoing deforestation place additional numbers in harm’s way. Since 1989, the Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center in Alajuela Province has been the primary facility for treating injured wildlife throughout Costa Rica. In 2019, the 34-acre center introduced a veterinary internship program that offers veterinary students from around the world a unique opportunity to work with exotic animals ranging from parrots to monkeys to big cats. More than 200 students have passed through the program since it started, according to Sara Goñi Martinez, DVM, MSc (WAH), wildlife veterinarian and veterinary intern coordinator. An estimated 60 percent of students come from the United States, with the remainder primarily from Europe. “The basic goal of the internship program is to improve the veterinary care that wild animals receive,” Dr. Goñi Martinez says. “Speaking with students from around the world, veterinary curricula don’t really include much wildlife medicine, if any at all, and we’re trying to fill that gap by providing a learning opportunity. There is a need for students to have different clinical experiences before going into veterinary medicine.” A hands-on approach Participating veterinary students work directly with wildlife veterinarians Sofia Astorga, DVM; Dr. Goñi Martinez, and Isabel Hagnauer, DVM. Coursework in pre-vet, veterinary medicine, or veterinary nursing is required. Over the course of the program, interns assist by performing physical exams, administering treatments, monitoring anesthetic procedures, assisting in surgeries and various procedures, intake of injured and orphaned wildlife, collecting blood and other laboratory samples, conducting laboratory analysis in the center’s in-house laboratory, and assisting with necropsies. Interns also can attend lectures, wet labs, and roundtables organized by the internship coordinators covering different topics in biodiversity conservation. Interns who stay longer also can develop their own small projects. Cost of the internship ranges from $900 to $1,500 per week, with accommodations and meals included. “The minimum length is two weeks, but we encourage interns to stay longer if they can,” Goñi Martinez says. “We have a maximum of four interns at a time. We want this experience to be hands-on and practical for them, but we also want to make sure the welfare of the animals is maintained, so we don’t want to expose the animals to an excessive number of people.” Despite the gorgeous grounds and tropical atmosphere, the internship is no vacation. As indicated on the facility’s website: “Interns should expect a busy, highly variable environment with a high number of emergency cases and/or confiscations coming in at a moment’s notice. The level of participation in clinical cases will depend greatly on the skill and experience of the student and the number and type of cases presented during the internship period.” Goñi Martinez also adds: “We try to get the interns involved in as many things as we can. They do a lot of medication preparation, and we discuss how the treatment plans are set up and why, and the considerations we need to take. We want them to understand what goes through our minds when making clinical decisions. We also have a laboratory in-house so we can run blood and fecal samples.” Veterinary intern Courtney Consolian observes a surgical procedure during hertime at Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center. Photo courtesy Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center Beyond a routine experience Courtney Consolian of Phoenix, Ariz., is a first-year veterinary student at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, Mass. She participated in the internship program following her undergraduate studies to broaden her worldview and explore the world before going to veterinary school. “The program entailed so many things,” Consolian says. “I assisted with surgeries, performed preventive medicine on our animals in the sanctuary and our residents to be released, ran diagnostics, administered medications, and performed technical skills such as blood draws and sutures. There were no specific classes at the time of my internship, but I did get to spend time at the research facility in Bosque Escondido, and Dr. Martinez would give presentations on subjects such as animal anesthesia.” Consolian observed a variety of unique clinical procedures during her internship, including pin placements on birds, tilapia skin grafts on burned monkeys, a splenectomy on a monkey, a c-section on a sloth, and repairing a prolapsed rectum on a peccary. “I learned so much and there was something new every day,” she tells Veterinary Practice News. “I was able to stay for six months, so I really got to build a relationship with everyone. The hardest part was adjusting to the culture and a different sleep schedule because the sun rises early in Costa Rica and so do the birds!” The myriad cases in which Consolian was involved showcase the center’s approach to veterinary medicine. Most are routine, but there have been some unusual situations over the years. For example, Goñi Martinez recalls a bird of prey that had ingested so many rubber bands its digestive tract had become occluded. However, the worst cases, she says, are those that result from human mistreatment. “These are often due to wildlife conflict, such as raccoons that have been shot or animals that have been poisoned,” Goñi Martinez explains. “We have also received some primates that have been in captivity, sometimes held with chains around their necks, which can be very traumatic for the animals. Cases like these don’t come through the door very often, but they do happen.” So do cases of wildlife trafficking. Goñi Martinez notes a case in which a man was caught with 15 squirrel monkeys in a box. There was also a case in which several capybaras, which are not native to Costa Rica, were found in a car. In both cases, the animals were confiscated and given medical care. Veterinary interns conduct laboratory analysis at Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center. Doing the good work The Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center receives more than 3,000 animals a year across more than 200 species. Sixty percent of its intake consists of birds, ranging from parrots and birds of prey to passerines. Mammals ranging from primates to possums comprise an additional 25 percent of patients, and reptiles, including iguanas and snakes, comprise around 15 percent. The medical issues seen among avian patients range from blunt force trauma following a building strike to health issues resulting from poor care while in captivity. “About one third of the animals we receive come from confiscations, which means a lot of animals have been in the pet trade,” Goñi Martinez says. “Among birds we see a very high incidence of obesity, feather problems, nutritional problems affecting the liver, and overgrown beaks and nails.” Among mammals, electrocution is a common hazard, especially for sloths and monkeys, who see power lines as passageways. “In addition to the primary victims of electrocution and automobile encounters, we often have to deal with secondary victims, which are usually their babies,” says Goñi Martinez. “That is the main reason we have juvenile and baby sloths and monkeys here. It can take years to rehabilitate them and get them ready for release.” Returning animals to the wild is the center’s primary goal, and it is able to do this for about 45 percent of patients. Animals are released at the 1,800-acre Bosque Escondido Wildlife Refuge in Nicoya Peninsula, and Golfito, a 90-acre tropical rain forest on the Osa Peninsula. Center staff live at the sites and facilitate the animals’ soft release. Those that cannot be released live out their lives at the center, and become ambassadors for their species. Resident animals live in large, natural environments, and the center goes to great lengths to avoid “humanizing” them. This means visitors cannot touch or hold the animals, whose habitats are designed to provide them with privacy when they need it. The center is funded primarily through visitor entrance fees, revenue from the veterinary intern program, and private donations. It also receives a small amount of money from the Costa Rican government for the treatment of injured animals received from a specific area of the country. In addition to caring for injured animals, the Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center supports native endangered species through breeding programs, using animals that can still procreate but cannot live in the wild. Species in the breeding programs include scarlet macaws, great green macaws, great curassows, and wild pigs. “Our work here, especially around rehabilitation, allows us to return more than 1,400 animals per year back to the wild,” Goñi Martinez says. “These are animals that never should have been removed, but we’re able to give them a second chance.” Don Vaughan is an award-winning writer who frequently writes about veterinary-related topics.
