The Hindu : New Delhi News : Some new guidelines for zoo vets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Some new guidelines for zoo vets

By Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI, JAN. 27. In view of the importance of disease evaluation in wildlife conservation and management, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has prepared a guide for basic post-mortem requisites for zoo veterinarians across the country.

Expected to cover the absence of guiding principles for use of field wildlife veterinarians and para-veterinary staff on issues of post-mortem and diseases investigation relevant to wildlife, the publication, "Basic Post-Mortem Requisites for Zoo Veterinarians'', has been written by experts from various fields.

The publication is important because it guides zoo veterinarians to understand and help overcome wildlife diseases, study the diagnostic techniques and help in proper preservation and submission of samples for investigation.

The publication, complied by the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, talks about general post-mortem procedures to be adopted, necropsy procedures in different species of wild animals, forensic aspects of post-mortem in wildlife, zoonotic diseases in wild animals, disinfection and disposal of carcasses.

"The veterinary profession though largely livestock oriented is now also looking at the possibility of wildlife protection. The importance of wildlife to local community has also been recognised globally. Further, wildlife is a virgin population and without any periodic vaccination for any ailments, animals are all susceptible to many diseases. Transmission of diseases can also occur between domestic animals and wild animals as well,'' explained CZA scientist Brij Kishor Gupta.

"Veterinarians are often expected to find out the cause and to suggest and institute control measures. It becomes a tough task as it is often difficult to identify an intact affected animals for assessment of diseases, particularly if it is an insidious ailment,'' he adds.

The guide provides an insight into post-mortem examination and laboratory investigation of samples and provides pointers to early diagnosis for detection of new emerging conditions. What the new book hopes to address is the approach and rationale to gross post-mortem examination, the principles of sampling and transportation of specimens, the laboratory tests required depending upon the circumstances and the possible diagnosis.

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