Studying our Connections with Animals and the Planet
Auckland Zoo’s New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM), was the first of its kind in the world, opened in 2007 by former Prime Minister Helen Clark. Here our veterinary team are able to contribute to crucial global databases through treating zoo animals and native wildlife, as well as undertake research that can both have an astounding impact nationally and globally.
Dr. Pas leads Auckland Zoo’s Veterinary Residency Programme, for qualified veterinarians to gain experience in conservation medicine and take on a research project that contributes to New Zealand native wildlife. This residency is open to New Zealand and Australian residents studying a Doctorate of Veterinary Medical Science at Murdoch University, with a new resident intake every three years.
A residency involves four days a week working as a veterinarian in Auckland Zoo’s Vet Hospital, and one day per week committed to a research project, with the aim of having a published paper post-residency. Past residents have made significant contributions to New Zealand conservation, publishing papers on diseases that affect the critically endangered Archey’s frog; psittacine beak and feather disease in kākāriki; mortality and prognostic indicators for stranded sea turtles; and pharmacological investigations of fungal treatments in tuatara.
Our latest Veterinary Resident, Dr. Stefan Saverimuttu, first studied veterinary medicine at the University of Sydney, before gaining five years’ experience in mixed practice clinics from New South Wales to the Northern Territory. His drive comes from a passion for conservation, science, and a love for animals. Before even leaving high school, Stefan was volunteering as a Zookeeper at Featherdale Wildlife Park which continued through his first degree until he left Sydney. When asked about a remarkable species he’s had the opportunity to work with, in true Aussie fashion, Stefan answers, “saltwater crocodiles”. Besides the exciting logistical challenges they present from a veterinary perspective, Stefan reminds us that as an animal a lot of people don’t have empathy for, they still feel pain and deserve the same opportunity for care.
What Stefan loves about being a zoo veterinarian? He explains there are two answers to that question – the first is being able to contribute to an organisation like Auckland Zoo that does so much for conservation, and on a personal level, he loves being challenged. Being able to contribute to an animal’s welfare, no matter how intricately difficult it is to run a general anaesthetic on a rhinoceros for instance, it’s both something that greatly benefits the rhino, but is also personally delivers a great sense of achievement.
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