The CHUV and the Zoo de Granby: a winning collaboration for the animals!

For many years now, the Centre hospitalier universitaire vétérinaire (CHUV) and the Zoo de Granby have collaborated together on a regular basis to share their specialists’ expertise, to complete the service offer to the animals at the zoological institute and to allow the students from the Faculty of veterinary medicine exposure to zoological medicine.

Within the framework of its preventive medicine program, the Zoo de Granby performs many routine examinations to assure its animals’ good health and to obtain baseline data about these animals.   And so, the Zoo’s team routinely takes x-rays in several species. As an example, imaging of the African elephants, the world’s largest terrestrial species, implies certain technical challenges. Besides the Zoo’s regular X-ray equipment, certain state of the art imaging systems from the CHUV allow for very high quality X-rays.

Sarah, the Zoo’s female African elephant, is 33 years old and weighs 3600 kg. Recently, a joint team from the Zoo and the CHUV took X-rays of her four feet. With the help of positive reinforcement, Sarah was trained by her keepers to place her feet in the right position on the X-ray cassette, therefore allowing for high quality images without delay and with complete collaboration from the animal who receives rewards thru-out the procedure. The images obtained with the CHUV’s state of the art DR apparatus confirmed the wellbeing of Sarah’s feet.

The Zoo de Granby is accredited by the Association of Zoo and Aquariums, therefore guaranteeing the highest standards of care for animals in North America. The CHUV is part of the Faculty of veterinary medicine of the Université de Montréal, the only veterinary faculty in Quebec.