The East Bay Zoological Society’s 1998 master plan to upgrade and expand the Oakland Zoo with a new veterinary hospital and California Project Trail has received approval. The Oakland City Council’s unanimous vote to approve financing for the project means construction of the veterinary hospital and California Trail Project, which will include 30-acres of open space habitat and 20‐acres of new exhibits featuring regionally extinct animals such as the grizzly bear, wolf, black bear, mountain lion and bald eagle. The new veterinary hospital will replace the current 1,200 sq. ft. facility built in 1961. “We currently have two full-time veterinarians and two full-time veterinary technicians on staff, in addition to me,” says Joel Parrott, DVM, executive director of the Oakland Zoo veterinary hospital. “We have approximately 640 animals (96 species) at the zoo. Dr. Karen Emanuelson, Director of Veterinary Services, Maria Trenary, Senior Veterinarian Technician, and a volunteer perform a procedure on a lion in the lion night house. The new veterinary hospital is 17,500 square feet, including a large animal treatment room, small animal treatment, ICU, necropsy, surgery, radiology, animal holding (hoofstock, aquatic, reptile, avian, small/medium/large mammal), two clinical labs, quarantine, offices and an overnight apartment for internships, as well as food prep and break rooms. The new hospital will be equipped with a new 800 MA radiograph machine with digital imaging, ultrasound, EKG, endoscopy, teaching microscope and a full hematology laboratory. Construction will begin July 2011 and complete in August 2012. The Oakland Zoo is then scheduled to host the national American Association of Zoo Veterinarians conference in October 2012. The East Bay Zoological Society’s 1998 master plan to upgrade and expand the Oakland Zoo with a new veterinary hospital and California Project Trail has received approval. “The new veterinary hospital is extremely important to improve care for our current animal collection and the future growth of the Oakland Zoo,” Dr. Parrott says. “It will significantly improve the quality of care and also expand our cooperative programs with other institutions. We are planning to expand our program supporting veterinary students at the UC Davis College of Veterinary Medicine in Davis, Calif. We expect to open our first veterinary internship program with this project. We will also be expanding our role providing veterinary services to critical conservation programs in California, including the California Condor Re-introduction Program, Western Pond Turtle and Puma Project.” Visit OaklandZoo.org for more information. <Home>
