We voted to adopt the
RED PANDA
at the
Smithsonian (D.C.)
National Zoo!
You CAN help too! Read on to find out how!
HOW ADOPTING HELPS ANIMALS
Since 1997, the Adopt a Species program has purchased a wide variety of equipment and supplies, such as scales
for weighing animals and food, oxygen for physical exams, and medication for such animals as seals and sea
lions, orangutans, elephants, and giant pandas.
Animal-care services, such as the rearing of a newborn Przewalski's
horse, were also funded by the program, and specialized equipment
purchases have included heat pads for birds in outdoor enclosures, a new
refrigerator/freezer for the invertebrate animal health group, and medical
supplies for the Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital.
By far, the most extraordinary contribution from the Adopt a Species program was its
support of an Asian elephant’s artificial insemination (AI) procedure in early 2000. The
Adopt fund helped to underwrite the cost of the complex procedure, including veterinary
staff, travel, equipment, ultrasonography, and the shipment of semen from a bull elephant in
Toronto. After a few ineffective AI attempts, an ultrasound confirmed that Shanthi was indeed pregnant. After a
21-month gestation period, a male elephant, named Kandula, was born on November 25, 2001. The successful AI
procedure was only the fourth in the U.S. and fifth worldwide.
The Adopt program has also funded enrichment materials for the giant pandas and lemurs, equipment repair, and
even gadgets to help "baby-proof" the elephant enclosure. It also helped the Zoo to purchase a wide array of
medical supplies to keep the Zoo's animals in tip-top shape. These included antibiotics, vaccines (TB, West Nile
virus, rabies, and distemper), anesthetic and anesthetic reversal drugs, steroids, anti-inflammatory medications,
flea treatments, and various dermatological treatments. It also has paid for radiology film, a pocket microscope,
surgical supplies, oxygen for animal anesthetic and recovery, syringes and tubes, teeth-cleaning supplies, and
incubator repairs.
Adopt a Species contributions make a difference for endangered animals in a variety of other ways:
MENDING A FISHING CAT'S FRACTURE
To diagnose a fishing cat's lame leg, Zoo vets anesthetized him for a full medical work-up and radiographs. An xray showed he had a fractured humerus - the long bone between the shoulder and the elbow - in two places. Zoo
vets with the help of a surgeon inserted metal pins into the bone to stabilize the fractured leg. The fishing cat's
prognosis is excellent. His bone has healed nicely, and he will have full use of the leg.
The Adopt Fund paid for the radiology supplies for the cat, surgical fracture pins, the anesthetic, including
oxygen and endotracheal tubes, and antibiotics.
GIANT PANDA HEALTH CARE
It's important to regularly monitor the general and reproductive health of the Zoo's two giant pandas, Mei Xiang
and Tian Tian, so that vet staff can diagnose, treat, and study these endangered animals.
Zoo vets take routine blood samples, check blood pressure, vaccinate, conduct ultrasound
exams, take radiographs, palpate them, and do close visual exams, all while the pandas
are awake in their training cage. Monthly blood samples are taken from each panda. Zoo
vets also conduct ultrasound exams of female Mei Xiang at least monthly, and more
frequently during the summer and fall, to assess her reproductive status. In addition, every
one to two years Zoo vets examine Tian Tian under anesthesia, permitting a more
thorough physical exam, including a dental exam and other procedures. Donations from
Adopt supporters underwrote the expenses of syringes and tubes for blood collection for
the pandas, radiology and ultrasound supplies, and occasional anesthetics.
REPOPULATING ORYXES IN TUNISIA
Most recently, the Adopt a Species program underwrote the cost of transporting one of the Zoo’s
scimitar-horned oryx to Tunisia. Once abundant in that region, the scimitar-horned oryx is now extinct in the wild. The
National Zoo, as a member of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), works closely with an international network of partners
to reintroduce the scimitar-horned oryx to its native habitat. The addition of the Zoo's oryx was valuable both in terms of
numbers and genetic diversity, fundamental components for establishing a viable population for the future.
Your participation in the Adopt program truly
makes a difference!