What goes on inside the lab at Taronga Western Plains Zoo's Wildlife Hospital

The state-of-the-art hospital, which opened in December 2022, is on display to zoo guests, who can watch surgeries being performed by the veterinary team and observe some of the research being done by Taronga scientists.

Taronga is focused on predicting and responding to challenges impacting wildlife and people. Its science team specialises in the fields of wildlife health, nutrition, terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecology, behavioural biology and welfare, reproduction and conservation genetics. Importantly, Taronga is also involved in 19 recovery programs for critically endangered frogs, birds, mammals and invertebrates.

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The new Wildlife Hospital at the zoo is increasing Taronga's capacity to carry out this vital work. The design and fit-out of the hospital were carefully considered to meet the needs of science and veterinary teams. For example, in the Endocrinology Lab, Taronga's experts can diagnose diseases and learn about the health and reproductive status of an animal. In this lab, the team conducts diagnostic tests on blood, urine, tissue and faecal samples.

Another fascinating aspect of the Hospital is the CryoDiversity Bank. This room contains special tanks that store invaluable reproductive cells and tissues from wildlife species in liquid nitrogen (-196°C).

The CryoDiversity Bank at Taronga Western Plains Zoo and Taronga Zoo in Sydney hold the largest collection of living, frozen wildlife reproductive cells in Australasia; this includes living samples of sperm, ovarian/testicular tissues and embryos from 82 wildlife species (39 mammals [including marsupials], 11 amphibians, two reptiles and 30 corals).

Although there are various 'frozen zoos' like this around the world, few have been able to use the frozen samples to create wildlife offspring. Taronga represents the only team in Australia achieving wildlife offspring success with cryopreserved cells (sperm) in mammals and birds.

The Hospital is also equipped with a Conservation Science Lab, a Reproductive Science Lab and a Conservation Ecology Lab. In these rooms Taronga's scientists and students do a range of activities, including processing gametes (sperm or eggs), embryos and other tissues for cryopreservation and conducting research to better understand and conserve terrestrial wildlife and ecosystems.

Excitingly, a lot of these activities can be observed by zoo guests when they visit the Zoo's Wildlife Hospital.

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