The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes

May 19, 2008
These entertaining essays offer insight into a world of singular strangeness—of giant panda colonoscopies and anorexic moray eels—modern zoological medicine in short, a field where the practitioners are as passionate as their patients are unwilling. Twenty-eight wild animal doctors recount their most memorable cases—polar bear hernias, hippo root canals, rhino pedicures—in vignettes ripe with humor and pathos. Editor Spelman compares the challenges of wild animal medicine with infant pediatric care—both “their patients can't speak”—and expounds on the slow process of bonding with patients too timid or aggressive to approach and examine. Readers will be dazzled by stories of recapturing a fugitive herd of wild bison from the outskirts of Paris and medical marvels developed to treat especially small or sensitive patients: a new anesthetic method pioneered for a tiny poison dart frog, prosthetic leg braces built for giraffes. Spelman writes, “Zoo vets are known for their stamina, strong constitutions, steady hands, good aim, and healthy knees”—these affectionate testaments ensure that compassion can be added to the equation.