A day at the Bristol Zoo Project

Neil Rae, BARTA Project Manager was given an amazing opportunity to watch a range of procedures being carried out under general anesthetic on one of the Giraffes at the Bristol Zoo Project thanks to Will Walker, Curator of Mammals. 

Along with Tony Ward from Resquip, a great supporter of BARTA, we had the opportunity to look at how our manual manipulation techniques and the animal rescue kit used by the Fire and Rescue Service animal rescue teams might be applied in this environment.

We had brought along a strop guide, glide sheet, 7 metre strops and head carry sheets ready for use if needed. The whole procedure is time critical and with Giraffe under general anaesthetic, the strops and the head carry sheets proved their worth helping to support the weight of his neck whilst skidding his body into a more suitable position to carry out the planned procedures. 

BARTA are looking forward to working with Will and the team to see what we can learn and how we might be able to help.”

Tony said; “It was a privilege to witness the hard work and compassion of the team at Bristol Project Zoo. Observing the use of a number of rescue products supplied by Resquip was fascinating. Looking forward to developing further products and techniques.”

At Bristol Zoo Project, 78% of the animals are both threatened and part of targeted conservation programmes. The Society’s aim is for this to rise to 90% of species by 2035.

Bristol Zoo Project is owned and run by the conservation and education charity Bristol Zoological Society. The zoo is home to animals from around the world including giraffe, cheetah, red panda, zebra, deer, ostrich, gelada baboons and lemurs.