Just like humans and pets, zoo animals undergo regular medical check-ups. As you might imagine, however, the physical examination of certain zoo residents requires a bit more effort than simply heading to the doctor’s office. To celebrate Veterinary Appreciation Day on June 18, the San Francisco Zoo highlighted one such high maintenance patient: a black bear (Ursus americanus).
“This past week, the team worked alongside carnivore staff to perform a general examination on 8-year-old black bear Valdez. Like most examinations, there are many things going on while the animal is under anesthesia, from blood draws, to checking their hearts, teeth, eyes, examining each limb, and weighing them,” the zoo wrote in a social media post. “The goal is to ensure each animal resident receives a comprehensive check-up on a regular basis, so that we can keep track of their overall health as they age and mature.”
The photographs accompanying the post feature the team assessing a very knocked-out Valdez’s paw, mouth, nose, and even conducting what seems to be an ultrasound scan. According to Joerg Mayer, an associate professor of zoological and exotic animal medicine at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, bears should always be anesthetized before a checkup.
“With a dog or a cat, you don’t need to do this,” Mayer told UGA Today. “Even a dangerous dog can just wear a muzzle. But you can’t put a muzzle on a bear.”
However, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) pamphlet suggests that bears can be trained to allow the examination of body parts such as the skin, feet, eyes, and teeth, as well as tests like ultrasounds and blood draws, which lessens the need for anesthesia or sedation. Since the accompanying image showcases an animal expert doing so while on the other side of a fence, veterinarians are presumably still expected to take precautions even when working with a well-trained animal.
[ Related: Is my dog ‘old’? Vets finally have the answers. ]
Valdez arrived at the San Francisco Zoo in 2017, after he and another orphaned bear cub named Juneau were found abandoned and malnourished in Alaska. While in most cases the best place for a bear is in its natural habitat in the wild, sometimes release is not possible and the mammals must stay in the care of a veterinary team.
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