Scholarship Winner: Singapore Zoo

Congratulations to Thia Yu Han, a winner from this past cycle of the International Veterinary Experience Scholarship!  Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us!

Axis Deer recovering from anesthesia post-vasectomy2020 was a difficult year, especially for final year vet students like myself whom had multiple placement cancellations due to COVID guidelines. However, I was one of the lucky few who managed to secure a 5 week placement with Singapore Zoo and it was one of the best placements I’ve completed thus far. Set in a rainforest environment, Singapore Zoo is world renowned for its “open concept” enclosure design and has a strong reputation for conservation efforts and breeding programmes. It is also a designated wildlife rescue centre and frequently works with local authorities to process displaced and/or injured wildlife. In order to better address the healthcare requirements of the zoo animals and for research purposes, the Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre was set up in 2006 and it was the place I spent most of my time at. I shadowed vets for the various calls they receive to tend to a myriad of animals within the zoo and the different presenting conditions. I was given the opportunity to do blood draws, monitor anaesthesia and assist with treatment plans for a variety of animals. I also learnt how to perform routine fish health monitoring by taking fin and gill samples to view under the microscope to check for parasites. One of the more unique cases I saw was the vasectomy of an Axis Deer in the back of a van as it is uncommon to see field surgical procedures performed in schools or on other clinical placements. It was intriguing to see how the vet maximised sterility in field conditions, and how monitoring of anaesthesia became extremely important to ensure the animal was well sedated for the duration of the surgery. It was also interesting to know that vasectomy was picked over castration due to aesthetic considerations of the animals on display as castration would affect the look of new antlers formed. 

Manatee calf being moved by keepers for routine health check

I also got to see a routine health check of a 3 month old manatee calf being performed, which included taking radiographs and drawing up blood to check for any anomalies in health parameters. It was interesting to see how working with an aquatic mammal is different from other animals and the teamwork required to ensure things run smoothly. It is important for these animals to be comfortable to handling for routine checks, hence the vet team relies heavily on the keepers to train the manatees frequently so that all checks can be conducted efficiently with minimal stress caused to the animals. 

6 metre long reticulated python brought in by ACRES (wildlife rescue centre) which required at least 6 people to restrainOther animals I worked with included wild reticulate pythons and colugos brought in by a local wildlife rescue team, where we microchipped them and check for any health problems before processing them to be released back to their natural habitat. They are all part of the local ecosystem in Singapore and it is essential that we have a general idea of the population of these species locally. Having this data makes it useful for the zoo to assess the likely causes of displacement and/or deaths of local wildlife population, and hence will be able to provide useful suggestions to the relevant government bodies for effective wildlife conservation.