Exotic Medicine

Veterinary Nursing in Conservation Medicine

Veterinary nurses have many different opportunities in veterinary medicine. Conservation work can be a blend of exotic medicine, public health, and something new every day.

January 26, 2024 |

Issue: Digital Exclusive

Murphy, working as the anesthetic nurse, checking the mucus membranes of an anesthetized lioness during surgery.

Credentialed veterinary nurses work in every aspect of multispecies health care, from emergency/critical care and dentistry to surgery and advanced imaging. However, many may not know about the quickly developing field of conservation medicine or the vital role veterinary nurses play in its advancement.

Conservation medicine is the study of the preservation of all living beings, including the relationships between pathogens, diseases, species, and their host ecosystem.¹ Therefore, this area of veterinary medicine highlights several important health factors such as the effects of a disease across different species, sustaining biodiversity, understanding the dynamic of an ecosystem, and the impacts of human influence.¹

So, in many ways, veterinary nurses can make their greatest impression on the world by taking part in conservation medicine.

What Does Conservation Medicine Look Like?

Overall, conservation medicine is the goal of solving global issues through multispecies health care. This includes routine tasks such as the administration of vaccines and birth control, breeding and genetics management, implementation of supplemental nutrition, standard physical exams, and rising species awareness through public education.

Reproductive Science

There are incredible strides being made when it comes to the preservation of an imminently extinct species, like the Northern White Rhino. Right now, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is perfecting the art of artificial insemination in order to one day implant a Southern White Rhino cow with a Northern White Rhino embryo.² An effort like this would produce a 100% purely bred Northern White calf despite the surrogate use of the Southern White mother. Such a success would open the doors of opportunity for other critically endangered or already extinct species whose genetic samples are also kept at the facility’s aptly titled “Frozen Zoo.”²

Tracking and Relocation

Tracking and relocation is another common intervention performed by those involved in conservation medicine. This technique is used to prevent the desire of hunting or poaching while protecting local human communities or other vulnerable wildlife. Tracking an endangered species, such as the African leopard, can provide a great deal of research data to better assist and advance all areas of conservation.

Take, for example, the Cheetah Outreach Trust.³ This organization is working out of the heart of South Africa to ensure the safest living dynamic between cheetahs and local farmers.³ In some instances, these cats may escape the secure confines of a reserve and subsequently risk being illegally hunted. That is when the tracking collar the Cheetah Outreach Trust placed around an animal’s neck at the time of initial capture is used to carefully locate and then move the animal to their original home.

Another unique measure this organization is taking is providing free guard dogs to livestock farmers as a way to protect their profits in the most cost-efficient manner without needing to poach an endangered predator.³

Aquatic Research

Conservation medicine is not limited to the often-thought-of terrestrial animals and equally includes aquatic research efforts. The most common species involved consist of orcas, dolphins, manatees, belugas, seadragons, sharks, corals, sea turtles, penguins, seals, and sea lions, among others.

In Florida, great strides are being made to counteract a record-breaking unexplained mortality event (UME) in the West Indian Manatee population.⁴ Under the direct guidance of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, multiple critical care centers specifically designed to rescue, rehabilitate, and release manatees have been created at several zoos and aquariums throughout the state, such as SeaWorld Orlando, ZooTampa, and the Jacksonville Zoo.⁴ Numerous other facilities have stepped in to offer a helping hand, including Disney World’s Epcot: The Seas with Nemo & Friends and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.⁴ Typical medical care interventions for these manatees include treatment for cold stress, boat collisions, starvation, orphaning, stranding, pollution and entanglement, and red tide poisioning.⁴

How Do Veterinary Nurses Fit In?

Those credentialed as veterinary nurses/technicians/technologists are an ideal asset for conservation medicine and can be found working in zoos, aquariums, wildlife refuges or rehabilitation centers, national parks, overseas reserves, research projects, and more.

Although breaking into these areas can be challenging, veterinary nurses can get started in conservation by working as an intern for a nonprofit organization, like Wild Spirit (thewildspirit.com).⁵ Wild Spirit offers courses specifically designed for veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and students in conservation medicine with hands-on training as well as classroom lectures.

Other roles that are additionally found in conservation medicine include veterinarians, veterinary assistants, hospital keepers, zookeepers, aquarists, animal packers, research biologists, field biologists, rescue biologists, wildlife coordinators, reserve or park guides, game or conservation officers, antipoachers, ecologists, and geologists.¹

Conservation medicine is a much-needed area of focus of our vastly developing veterinary industry, and veterinary nurses have an important role to play. In the last 20 years alone, the human population has constantly grown and expanded at an unparalleled rate.⁶ With nowhere else to go, the impact of such advancement touches nearly every type of habitat in its wake. Meaning, without the recognition and intervention of conservation medicine, species that remain today may not exist in the future.

Murphy has a wide range of experiences in veterinary medicine, including conservation work from South Africa to San Diego.