Brookfield Zoo Chicago's new animal radiology database a 'game-changer' for zoo veterinarians
The physical difficulty of performing the first-ever CT scan on a rhinoceros weighing more than a ton wasn’t the only challenge for Brookfield Zoo Chicago veterinarians in 2018.
After successfully wrestling Layla, a sedated 2,300-pound eastern black rhinoceros, through the machine’s circular opening and snapping images of her head, the vets faced another problem.
They were trying to better understand a growth in Layla’s sinus that obstructed her breathing, but they had no reliable comparison images to determine what a healthy rhinoceros’ sinus looks like.
Veterinarians had to rely on images of deceased rhinoceroses they'd received from museums. But those didn’t show muscles, blood vessels and other soft tissues.
“That kind of led to this idea that it would be wonderful if there’s a database available where zoos would be able to archive images that would then be anatomized and accessible to other zoo and wildlife veterinarians around the globe,” said Dr. Michael Adkesson, Brookfield Zoo Chicago president and CEO.
That first-of-its-kind resource, called the Zoo and Aquarium Radiology Database, was launched last week for veterinary professionals and wildlife biologists working with non-domestic animals in zoos, schools and the private sector. It is designed to share diagnostic images such as X-rays, MRIs and CT scans.
Animal care specialist Molly Podraza, who focuses on hoofed mammals, feeds carrots and bananas to Layla, a 13-year-old eastern black rhinoceros, on Thursday at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Layla was the recipient of what was thought to be the first-ever CT scan on a rhinoceros in 2018 when she had an obstruction in her nasal passageway.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Professionals can now search for images through the online database by species, age, sex and body part. It consists of 1,000 images from 50 species, but officials aim to expand the database to 10,000 images within the next two years.
“Right now, there’s really no great, solitary resource for zoo vets to go to,” Dr. Eric Hostnik, the lead veterinary radiologist of the program and an associate professor at Ohio State University, told the Sun-Times.
“Whereas your local dog vet can open a textbook and have plenty of normal images to look at, that wasn’t previously available to a lot of the zoo species,” he said. “It’s kind of a basic need as far as what I see with the onset of imaging.”
Brookfield Zoo Chicago headed the effort to create the radiology database after their 2018 experience with Layla.
The zoo secured a nearly $690,000 federal grant in 2021 to begin the project.
Six other institutions assisted Brookfield Zoo Chicago in creating the database: the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Saint Louis Zoo, Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance.
Previously, zoo professionals would consult colleagues at other zoos when presented with a new disease, illness or any novel situation, which happens often when handling exotic animals.
“Our veterinarians in the zoo work with everything from a tiny little frog all the way up to a rhinoceros, and so there’s always information that is new that we’re trying to work our way through,” Adkesson said.
Immediate access to the database also cuts down on the precious time it takes to email or call other zoos for their opinions on time-sensitive cases, Adkesson said.
Zoo leaders are lauding the new database as a groundbreaking development in veterinary radiology.
Adkesson calls it a “game-changer,” and Hostnik said it’s “an enormous teaching tool for aspiring veterinarians specializing in zoological medicine and radiology.”
The database also helps to advance the mission of Brookfield Zoo Chicago and most zoos worldwide to be leaders in wildlife conservation, to educate the public and provide the best quality care for its animals, Adkesson said.
“That then leads those animals to their bigger purpose within our zoo, which is to be part of the conservation program, to help tell stories of their counterparts in the wild, to help people understand the threats that are facing wildlife around the globe, the action that they can take at home to truly make a difference in saving wildlife,” Adkesson said.
“Really, that is the bigger point to what we’re trying to do as an organization, and this database is just one more tool in our toolbox to help ensure that wildlife is around for future generations.”
And what about Layla?
She still lives at the zoo and is "active and thriving," Adkesson said.