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Paul Harter Veterinary
Medical Center

 

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Keeping them wild and well

The Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center (HVMC) is a state-of-the-art animal hospital located at the Wild Animal Park. Considered to be the largest and most sophisticated zoo animal hospital in the world, it has treatment rooms, a central surgery room, intensive care wards, and a special area where X rays can be taken on critters from small to large. There are also individual rooms for animals waiting for treatment or recovering from surgery, with windows or skylights and outdoor sunbathing areas!

The Park's former hospital facility was so small that many of the larger animals, such as big cats and gorillas, couldn't be hospitalized there for treatment. Often, their examinations had to be done outdoors. As you might guess, this didn't work very well on rainy days! Veterinarians now use the former building for animal quarantine.

The spaciousness of the HVMC allows the medical staff to perform procedures on different animals at the same time. This cuts down on the amount of time a patient has to "sit in the waiting room." Special mechanical lifts can help get heavier animals up on the table for surgery or exams. Recovery rooms and inside stalls line a specially designed "push alley," where keepers can use "push boards" the width of the alley to move animals up and down the corridor safely. There is even a scale built into the alley's floor so a weight can be obtained as the animal walks onto it.

In the physical therapy room, a variety of tubs are available to help recovering animals. For example, a gazelle with a broken leg could be buoyantly supported and massaged by circulating water in a whirlpool tub or a recuperating duck might exercise by swimming in a large washtub. Bird and reptile patient wards have both indoor and outdoor areas and include heat lamps and ponds. In addition, the reptile area is humidity-controlled and the bird areas have rubber flooring. ALL patient wards have either skylights or solar tubes.

There are still a few animals that are just too big for the HVMC: adult elephants, giraffes, and rhinos. The Park's veterinarians treat these critters in their own Field Exhibits. In fact, our vets prefer to make "house calls" whenever possible, and that's how most of the Park's animal residents are treated. The veterinarians' trucks are equipped just like a mobile hospital, with most of the supplies needed to help care for sick or injured animals. Like humans, animals are more comfortable in their own familiar surroundings. However, they are brought to the HVMC if they can't be treated safely "at home."

Although the HVMC is not open to visitors, we do offer special guided tours of the facility on weekends. Thanks to Paul Harter and other generous donors, the HVMC is "just what the doctor ordered" for the wild creatures in the Park's care.

Fun facts

• Every detail, from flooring to temperature controls, was meticulously planned by the veterinary staff and architects. The facility was built so that animals and vehicles never cross paths as the animals are transported in or out of the hospital.
• The central surgery room features a built-in video camera to document the medical procedures and transfer images to closed-circuit TV monitors.
• The walls of the outside hoofed stock pens are made from recycled plastic, making them sanitary, durable, and easy to clean. The floors are either rubber or dirt. A footbath is also available for soaking the feet of large ungulates.
• Since 2003, the new medical center has been used to help train future veterinarians. The Zoological Society of San Diego works in partnership with the University of California, Davis in a three-year veterinarian residency program. The first year, graduate veterinarians study at the university, the second at the San Diego Zoo, and the third and final year at the Wild Animal Park.
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