Belize Zoo Externship

Stacie Munden, Ross University

Normally during Christmas time people think of lights and Christmas trees and presents. For me, this is not what I had in mind. I spent a week of my Christmas break at the Belize Zoo learning about anesthesia, ultrasound, and treatments for animals I had never seen before. The Belize Zoo houses all different animals including tapirs, spider monkeys, crocodiles, ornate hawk eagles, jaguarundis, jaguars, peccaries, harpy eagles, as well as many, many more. The zoo allows students and veterinarians to come help perform physical exams, diagnoses, preventative medicine, and treat injuries. This is exactly what five of my colleagues and I did for our Christmas break.

On our first day at the zoo we got to go on a tour of the zoo and were shown the on-site clinic. We spent that morning getting acquainted with the supplies and drugs that the clinic had. We were tasked with organizing all the drugs in similar groups using Plumb’s which was a great review of pharmacology and to prepare us for the upcoming week. After organizing the drugs that afternoon we anesthetized a howler monkey to perform a physical exam, ultrasound for pregnancy, and treat her mastitis. The veterinarian overseeing us let us take charge of the anesthesia by splitting up the tasks amongst us so we were all able to take part. This experience solidified what I had learned in my anesthesiology class.

The second day was just as amazing as the first, if not more. We started the day by anesthetizing a jaguar! Once again we were responsible for the anesthesia with the guidance of the veterinarian. We drew blood and did a physical exam to check old injuries. Our next patient was the cutest little four-eyed opossum. They do not actually have four eyes, but white eyebrows which can look like two extra eyes in the dark. We did another physical exam, blood draw, and sexed him, determining that he was indeed a male. The zoo then let us name him which we decided to bestow upon him the name of Bernardo, a fitting name for an opossum. Our next task was performing radiographs on an ornate hawk eagle that was unable to fully extend his wing. They are one of my favorite birds at the zoo along with the harpy eagle. I got to help position him for radiographs, but the images had to be sent off for processing so we were not able to see the results. Our next two patients were crocodiles where we drew blood, did physical exams, and replaced a bandage on the tail of one of the crocodiles. For each of the animals we took blood from, we determined the PCV, TP, and looked at blood smears under the microscope.

On the third day two peccaries were sedated to be moved, so we performed another physical exam and drew blood. This was amazing because I had to draw blood from the peccary and was unsure of where to draw blood from, so I found a vein on the leg and got blood on my first try which impressed my colleagues. The third peccary that was sedated was brought into the clinic where we performed an ultrasound guided cystocentesis with the help of my friend who wants to become boarded in diagnostic imaging. The next chapter of the day was full of tapirs! I had never heard of a tapir before this and our job was to anesthetize two tapirs and administer parasiticide in addition to the physical exam and bloodwork. The tapirs look like a mix of a horse and rhino with a long nose but have a goofy personality. They quickly became one of our favorite animals at the zoo.

Thursday and Saturday were our days off from the zoo where we went to Xunantunique and the Actun Tunichil Muknal cave. Xunantunique is a Mayan archeological site. We walked around the ruins and our tour guide told us about the history. We also stopped at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel where the owner of this hotel has created the Green Iguana Conservation Project to reduce the decline of green iguanas. We got to see where the green iguanas are housed before being released. On Saturday we went spelunking through the “ATM” cave. I did not know what all this entailed, but this was by far the most amazing cave I have ever seen. This adventure started by swimming across a river and hiking down a trail to the entrance. The entrance to the cave is actually a river that comes out of the cave. We had to swim into the cave and through a narrow spot before walking/swimming about a half mile into the cave. At the end of the cave was an ancient sacrificial site with artifacts lying on the cave floor.

Friday was our last day at the zoo which we spent doing physical exams and bloodwork on the birds. I got to draw blood from a Harpy eagle and scarlet macaw! The harpy eagle is a large bird of prey with huge talons that were the size of my hand! We also did physical exams on the ornate hawk-eagles at the zoo. We ended the day learning how to load and shoot blow darts at a target which I could still use some more practice. This was by far the most amazing experience I’ve had thus far and I’ve gained so much experience that will be beneficial for me to use for not only exotic species of animals but our domesticated pets too. I hope to go back someday and would recommend this experience to anyone!