New York Ag Connection - Conservation, Education Drive Cornell-Zoo Partnership

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Conservation, Education Drive Cornell-Zoo Partnership
New York Ag Connection - 01/20/2020

In the spring of 1997, experts from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine drove north on Interstate 81 in a rented moving truck packed with expensive and unwieldy equipment. They were on their way to see a special patient: a 3-month-old Asian elephant named Mali.

Mali was born at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, with an umbilical hernia, a defect in the abdominal wall where a loop of intestine bulged dangerously. These abnormalities can often close on their own, but Mali's had not, increasing her risk of death or complication during future pregnancies. With only 40,000 of her species left, ensuring Mali's survival was imperative.

Surgery was the only option, but it was not without risk. Twenty years ago, general anesthesia and surgical interventions in elephants came with high mortality rates. At the time, only two other cases of surgical hernia repair had been reported for this species -- and both had postoperative complications. What Mali needed was anything but routine.

Fortunately, the zoo staff knew elephant expert Dr. George Kollias, then section head of zoological medicine at the veterinary college; he's now the Jay Hyman Professor Emeritus of Wildlife Medicine. After getting the call for help, Kollias assembled a team: his zoological medicine colleague Dr. Noha Abou-Madi, large animal surgeons Drs. Norm Ducharme and Richard Hackett, and large animal anesthesiologist Dr. Robin Gleed. The group loaded an anesthesia machine, a large-animal surgical table, medicines and supplies into a truck to build a makeshift surgical suite at the zoo.

For nearly an hour, the team worked calmly and meticulously on the surgery. The zoo staff waited.

That high-stakes surgery was a success, and sparked what has become a 23-year relationship between the Rosamond Gifford Zoo and the College of Veterinary Medicine.

This partnership, formalized in a contract drawn up by Kollias and the zoo, provides world-class care for endangered species while giving veterinarians and students access and training on rare species and conditions. It has also enabled Cornell to launch a residency program in zoological medicine, forming a trifecta alongside Cornell's wildlife health center and exotic pet clinic.

"We were traveling to the zoo one day a week to take care of medical concerns," Abou-Madi says. "Our visits grew to two, three and now four-plus days a week. We are on call 24/7 and match our visits to their needs; the collection has grown, and we are involved in many aspects of the care of these special animals."

Mali has since grown into a 4-ton, 10-foot-tall adult Asian elephant. She continues to benefit from Cornell's veterinary expertise, including ultrasound exams during her most recent pregnancy. This is no small task. Two elephant keepers stand at the patient's head to hand apple slices to Mali's questing trunk; a keeper holds the tail aside; and a veterinarian assists with the ultrasound machine while another operates the probe. Several other members of the team are nearby should assistance be needed.

The procedure also requires a preparatory enema -- and all the accompanying effluent one might imagine.

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