Diary of a Conservation Veterinarian in Brazil.

Yesterday was Good Friday, a public holiday, and it was a bad day to be dabbling in conservation veterinary medicine.

Good Friday and Easter in Brazil are bigger than the moon landings in terms of public interest.  Everything closes, including access to the local university veterinary hospital.  I went there yesterday in the morning and it was like Checkpoint Charlie. I had agreed with one of the undergraduate veterinary medicine students to teach her the principles of falconry and avian veterinary medicine.

A week last Wednesday one of the veterinary hospital residents was introduced to me at the small animal clinic where I am working in town. I was itroduced to him and my interest in wildlife issues and wildlife conservation medicine mentioned.  I gave him my details and two days later Steph contacted me.  I have been going to help every working day since.

Normally access to the university is easy, there being two access roads into the campus.

Both were blocked yesterday with huge offending orange bollards.  Being British, I can usually get past security in most situations  Don't ask me why.  But I think confident body language and an authoritative tone of voice helps.

Then of course the hospital was shut and there was a wait while he opened up, quite reluctantly I thought.  We managed to get as far as the corridor before getting stopped short at the locked door to the wildlife sector.  My colleague then called the person with the keys and there was a wait while she arrived.

We were not alone.  There were several interns and two patients,  one a permanent one and the mascot of the veterinary hospital, a Red-Legged Seriema, Cariama cristata, an amputee.

Red-Legged Seriema, Cariama cristata. The left pelvic limb had been amputated at the distal portion of the tarsus.

This was the closest I had been to a Red-Legged Seriema, although they are common and widespread in the interior of Mato Grosso.

But we were here for the Pearl Kite (see previous post). On Thursday we had taken this bird in hand and kitted it out. Ths means removing the bird from its clinical quarters and putting falconry furniture on it, ready to apply the principles of falconry training to its rehabilition.  For me, this is conservation veterinary medicine applied to raptor rehabilitation.

Pearl Kite/Gaviãozinho/Gampsonyx swainsonii, on bow perch.

The bow perch in the photograph is fitted with synthetic grass as a simple prophylactic measure against pododermatitis.  Another name for pododermatitis is bumble foot.  Captive raptors maintained in inappropriate conditions with unduiatble perches can develop bumble foot.  Wild raptors hsve n infinite choice of perch to choose from in nature and so pressure on the foot is alleviated.  In captivity, even in a veterinary hospital, perch choice is limited and so this is one example of how falconry training can aid the recovery of raptors.

See you next time.