The veterinary department is involved in all aspects of animal welfare. This includes preventative medicine, clinical medicine and surgery, but also nutrition and behavioural enrichment. The wildlife centre has a well equipped surgery room, an x-ray machine, an ultrasound and all the necessary medication and equipment to carry out most procedures.

In wildlife medicine a lot of the work involves taking preventative measures. Most wild animals can’t be handled or treated without sedation. For this reason it is important to try to prevent any illnesses.

A good balanced diet helps animals to stay healthy and fight infections. Diets are adapted individually and seasonally where necessary.

Where vaccinations are available, animals get inoculated against viral infections.

Faecal samples of all animals are twice a year checked for internal parasites. Animals are dewormed twice a year and if any other parasites are detected, treatment is given accordingly.

Animals are treated against ectoparasites on a regular base.

Ectoparasites found on the animals are collected and kept on ethyl alcohol for further reference.

Hair samples, blood and sometimes tissue samples are collected from all animals for DNA research conducted in collaboration with Dr. Carlos Fernandez from Cardiff University.

All new arrivals are kept in quarantine for at least 6 weeks. This is done to prevent the introduction of infectious diseases into the rest of the collection.

During quarantine animals are observed and samples are taken to make sure they are in good health. Faecal samples are checked for internal parasites and the animals are treated against ectoparasites; if needed they are vaccinated. Also blood samples are obtained: haematology and biochemistry is performed and serology is done to check for viral infections.

For example in the cats (from sand cat to cheetah) blood samples are taken to perform a full blood count, to check liver and kidney values, and to check for FIV, FIP, FeLV and toxoplasmosis. The cats are also vaccinated with a killed rabies vaccine and against other common feline viral infections like panleukopenia. They are treated orally or by injection against internal parasites.

A high percentage of new arrivals are confiscated or donated animals. There is, unfortunately, still a lot of illegal trade in live animals in the Middle East and the authorities are fighting a constant battle to keep it under control (read more...). Most of these animals are sick and dehydrated when they arrive and are in desperate need of medical attention. Sometimes their condition is so bad that they have to be euthanased. Any Arabian wildlife that can be accommodated into our collection, will after quarantine, be introduced. However, a lot of the confiscated or donated animals are not indigenous to Arabia and have been smuggled into the country to supply the exotic pet trade. In these cases we try to find a suitable home for the animals but this is not always possible and sometimes the only course of action available to us is to euthanase the animals.

Until recently the veterinary department had been conducting research on assisted reproduction in two of our most endangered species, the Arabian leopard and the Arabian tahr. The work carried out on the Arabian leopard formed the basis of a PhD thesis by Dr. Florine de Haas van Dorsser and several scientific papers. This research has now been finalised and published recently.

At the same time a lot of effort has been put into the “unassisted” reproduction. Knowledge and experience has been gained over the years on correct husbandry and reproductive physiology, this way establishing a very good breeding success in the Arabian leopard and Cheetah.

Recently we were also able to breed our first offspring in the Arabian tahr.

Also in the smaller mammals such as the Jerboa,  a wild rodent, and reptiles breeding has been very successful.

A necropsy is performed on all the animals that die at the Sharjah Desert Park. This is important in animal management and disease control as it draws the attention to potential problems in the remaining stock.

If needed organ samples are sent to specialised labs to perform histopathology and for culturing pathogens.