By Sage Demopoulos, Cornell DVM ‘25

The Fossil Rim Wildlife Center plays an important role in efforts to save wildlife species from extinction. I was fortunate enough to travel to Glen Rose, Texas for a preceptorship to experience these conservation efforts firsthand. This was an unparalleled opportunity to learn about field immobilization techniques and preventative medicine while working with endangered species, including the southern black rhinoceros, scimitar-horned oryx, and bongo.

Routine Clinical Care for Wildlife Species

At Fossil Rim, I honed my clinical skills while caring for a diverse range of wildlife species. Routine veterinary care consisted of daily cleaning of pressure wounds in a white rhino, draining abscesses in aoudads, giving iron injections to anorexic sable antelopes, radiographing fractures in cheetahs, using an endoscope to remove a foreign body from an ostrich, and collecting blood from giraffes. Every day was completely different, and the veterinary and animal care staff always had to be ready for anything to happen!

I gained hands-on experience with species-specific restraint protocols that allow veterinarians to safely perform necessary procedures on non-domesticated animals. I aided in positive reinforcement training for rhinos, netting and hand restraint for red wolves, and chemical restraint for addax hoof trims in the field. We also performed preventative medicine exams on a wide variety of species, and necropsies when necessary.

Herd Management for Semi-Free-Ranging Species

Fossil Rim is unique from other institutions I have visited, and I now have a much better understanding of how semi-free-range management practices influence veterinary care. Darting was the primary method for vaccinating and deworming the large multi- species herds of hoofstock. We drove around in vans with the animal care staff who were trained to recognize individual animals and the herds’ normal movement patterns. We targeted specific individuals that had high fecal parasite burdens for deworming, to minimize anthelmintic resistance within the herd and in other species that share the habitat. I was in awe of the staff who were so well-trained that they could even recognize individual zebras from 50 meters away based on their unique stripe patterns!

Multi-Institutional Conservation Projects

Fossil Rim plays an important role in large-scale, multi-institutional conservation programs. In collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we released multiple batches of Attwater’s prairie-chickens (APCs), a highly endangered subspecies of the greater prairie-chicken. Fossil Rim has a huge breeding center that separates the prairie-chickens by age group. Once they are large enough, birds undergo a veterinary examination to confirm their health before release into the wild to re-establish populations in their native habitat. I helped perform physical exams, vaccinations, and deworming for over 100 birds!

Fossil Rim is also one of the few institutions in the United States that house southern black rhinos, which I had the immense pleasure of working with! The black rhino is currently listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. This keystone species plays a critical role in maintaining its native southern African habitat, but the fate of these intelligent animals is emblematic of the perils faced by all wildlife today—cruel exploitation for profit and encroachment on natural habitats. This is why the conservation work done by Fossil Rim is so essential.

Rhinos have one of the longest reproductive cycles of any terrestrial mammal, often resulting in only one calf every 2-5 years in the wild. Their 16-month gestation period is almost twice as long as a human pregnancy! This slow reproductive rate makes conservation efforts difficult, enhancing the importance of understanding their reproductive cycles.

At Fossil Rim, blood and feces are collected from the rhinos to measure specific hormone levels to help monitor the estrous cycles of the females and identify when they may be receptive to breeding. Unfortunately, some females display estrus at such irregular intervals that scientists are still researching ways to develop an effective synchronization protocol that can bring a female into behavioral estrus so she can pair with a male. Fossil Rim plays a crucial role in this research.

Additionally, ultrasonography can be used to visualize the female reproductive tract and confirm that she is healthy and cycling. The animal care staff at Fossil Rim have done an impressive job training the rhinos for basic veterinary procedures. Every day, the staff works with these animals, feeding them in ways that provide positive reinforcement for good behaviors. Due to their hard work and dedication, collecting blood samples and performing full ultrasound exams is possible without needing to sedate or anesthetize these large animals; in fact, they seem to enjoy the procedures!

Reproductive Management as Part of a Larger Conservation Strategy

Reproductive technologies have an increasingly important role in conservation efforts. At Fossil Rim, all the animals are semi-free-ranging and breed naturally. In fact, most female hoofstock are either pregnant or have a nursing calf! It was truly amazing to see so many neonates of various species and to learn how these species are reproductively managed.

Typically, males are moved into and out of specific pasture areas, depending on the seasonal breeding cycle of each species, to diversify the population’s genetics. Additionally, surgical epididymectomies are performed when a male is no longer reproductively needed, allowing males to remain part of the herd to ensure natural herd dynamics and hierarchy. I was even able to perform an epididymectomy on a fallow deer myself.

I also had the opportunity to perform multiple neonatal exams on species such as waterbuck, red wolves, bongo, kudu, and black-footed cats. These neonatal exams are a proactive way to monitor the population and check health status before, for example, the hoofstock neonates get larger and it becomes difficult to find them among the expansive enclosures.

Reflections

The intersections of conservation and veterinary medicine are extremely important, and encouraging more individuals to get involved is critical. Put simply, this is a field that can change the world! I want to sincerely thank Jake Holshuh ‘67, DVM ’69, who sponsored my experience through the Student Support Fund, helping me to continue pursuing this career path.

Overall, this experience has fortified my passion for wildlife conservation and helped me further develop the skillset I need to help drive the kind of environmental change I want to see in the world. I developed a deep appreciation for the challenges of wildlife anesthesia in a diversity of species, and for the importance of maximizing procedures to collect a wide range of biomedical data for optimizing animal care and research outcomes. I hope to continue learning more about the field of conservation and the network of dedicated individuals working tirelessly around the world.

Sage Demopoulos, Class of 2025, is a fourth-year DVM student at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. She is from New York City and received her BS in Animal Science and Entomology from the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her lifelong ambition is to contribute to the field of conservation, planetary health, and One Health.

All photos provided by Sage Demopoulos.