WEST ORANGE, N.J. (AP) — Forget giraffes, gibbons and leopards. About a dozen visitors to the Turtleback Zoo gathered around a most unusual sight on a recent morning.
It was a small light brown turtle being examined by a veterinarian.
For the next 30 minutes, spectators watched through plate glass windows as young endangered sulcata tortoises, also known as brown tortoises, underwent measurements, X-rays, blood draws and microchips.
Inside a new treatment room open to the public at the Northern New Jersey Zoo, Dr. Kylie Anderson inserted a gel-covered Doppler wand between the top and bottom of the turtle’s shell and listened to its heartbeat.
The unplused reptile pulled its head and thick-scaled paws around the cane, trapping it in the wrong position. When Anderson tried to reinsert the device after pacifying the creature and letting it go, she received the Chelonian equivalent of a cold shoulder.
“You have to be really patient with the turtles,” Anderson explained. “Because if you say, ‘No, thank you,’ it’s a no.”
The experience was new for the newly arrived turtles, but it was also new for the onlookers.
Few zoos offer veterinary care
This year, Turtleback Zoo joins a relatively small number of U.S. zoos (perhaps a dozen or fewer of the 250 accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums) that regularly provide veterinary services to the public, said Dr. Scott Terrell, a veterinarian and former accrediting committee member.
“This is a really easy way for the public to really understand and appreciate the care these animals are receiving,” said Terrell, who oversees Disney’s animal care. Since 1998, Animal Kingdom has allowed visitors to observe veterinary care.
In the era of social media campaign and lawsuit Some zoos question the health status of animals in captivity, while others consider disclosing their veterinarians a form of transparency.
“When things go out of sight, people make up stories about what’s going on. I wanted to make sure people knew what was going on, and the Nashville Zoo wanted to make sure, too,” said Dr. Heather Schwartz, the zoo’s director of animal health. Renovations to the veterinary center in 2019 included the installation of a 200-seat observation deck and cameras.
At the Oklahoma City Zoo’s 10-year-old animal hospital, patrons have seen everything from routine exams to hernia repairs on gorillas to eye surgeries on bison, said Dr. Gretchen Cole, director of veterinary services. Visitors sometimes turn pale, but Cole said she expected them to be “more nauseous than we were.”
Turnaround for suburban zoos
The compact suburban Turtle Back Zoo is home to about 150 species and recognized for their contributions. clouded leopard conservation and sea turtle rehabilitation. Even more bizarrely, the friendship between a cheetah and a Labrador retriever has become a hot topic on social media.
The county zoo, which opened in 1963, was threatened with closure in the mid-1990s due to financial problems and low attendance. Steady renovations and additions in the 2000s turned the situation around, and it now receives nearly 1 million visitors a year and is financially healthy, said Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., a longtime Essex County executive who presided over the revitalization.
With a growing number of animals, the zoo needed a larger, more modern veterinary hospital. The new $17 million building, funded with state, federal and county funds, opened in April and allows visitors to see rooms where animals undergo tests and other procedures (surgeries are performed out of sight in a separate area).
It’s a way to provide a new attraction, and “we want kids to not only see the animals, but learn about what’s going on,” said DiVincenzo, a Democrat. Zoo Director Gillian Fazio hopes seeing veterinary care will encourage visitors to interact with the animals and get involved in conservation efforts.
On a sunny Saturday in September, signs and announcements invited visitors to watch the Sulcata tortoise trial. The animal was found on a road in New Jersey and brought to the zoo, Fazio said. The origin of this reptile is unknown. Sulcatas may be kept as pets, but this requires a state permit.
How can I check for turtles? slowly and steadily
Adults typically reach a weight of at least 75 pounds (34 kg) over time. But for now, the turtle was compact enough for veterinarian Madison Miranda to pick it up while veterinarian Anderson carefully tried to grab one of its legs to draw blood.
When she tried the paw, the reptile pulled it closer and huddled. Next is the hind legs. Next is the front desk. Next, the area under the shell near the head. The attempt was at hand.
“Oh, you’re so good,” Anderson said soothingly to the turtle, who was preparing to try again. “Just a little poke, a little poke…and there we go.”
“We found the sweet spot!” the veterinarian said as he pulled out the syringe and used a tongue depressor to apply a cotton swab to the injection site.
Eventually, more blood and mouth swabs will be needed for additional tests, as well as another test to listen to the heartbeat. However, since the turtle was quarantined as a new arrival, those procedures could wait. Anderson had seen enough to conclude that the as-yet-unnamed animal appeared healthy and was probably female.
After taking an antibacterial bath, the patient returned to the cage for a strawberry as a reward.
But first Miranda led her to the viewing window, where 10-year-old Eleanor Wei and her mother, Shu-ching Wu, remained on the other side.
“I think their attitude of just providing veterinary care is really great,” Eleanor said. She added, “It was nice to have the real-life experience.”
