ZSL to showcase vet procedures to public
Visitors will be able to see 'everything from penguin health checks to porpoise post-mortems'.
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is to open a public viewing gallery, where visitors will be able to watch as its veterinary surgeons perform procedures on resident animals.
The gallery is to form part of a new £20m wildlife health centre, planned for the ZSL’s headquarters at Regent’s Park, which has been made possible by ‘the most significant donation in the charity’s 200-year history’.
The new centre will support ZSL in its care for resident animals, as well as supporting global science and conservation efforts. Facilities will enable researchers to better monitor emerging diseases in the wild and build on early warning systems to prevent pandemics.
Meanwhile, the viewing gallery is intended to bring veterinary science to the general public, with visitors invited to watch live procedures. ZSL says procedures could be ‘everything from penguin health checks to porpoise post-mortems’.
The announcement comes as ZSL marks its 200th anniversary. The charity was founded in April 1826 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, before employing its first veterinary surgeon in 1829.
ZSL later appointed Oliver Graham Jones as its first dedicated zoo vet in 1951, who went on to oversee the creation of Europe’s first purpose-built zoo hospital.
The charity’s new centre is expected to build upon its One Health commitment, effectively integrating clinical care, a teaching hospital and wildlife disease research.
Kathryn England, ZSL CEO, said: “For 200 years, ZSL has been committed to growing our understanding of wildlife and taking people on that journey with us; from opening the world’s first scientific zoo, to launching the Institute of Zoology, and establishing global conservation projects. In those two centuries we have evolved from studying wildlife, to conserving it, to fighting for it.
“Today, as we celebrate our bicentenary with the announcement of our ambitious new wildlife health centre, we are drawing on those two centuries of scientific leadership, making us uniquely positioned to deliver this vision.
“We established the foundations of modern zoo veterinary care, have advanced conservation science on a global scale and been at the vanguard of public engagement with wildlife; our history has shaped how wildlife is studied, treated and protected. Now, that legacy becomes a platform for action.”
Image © ZSL
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