by Susan Mikota, DVM

About Her Story

"It was clear why Alfredito had so many admirers. Now I was one of them, and tomorrow the hippo’s life would be in my hands."

About the Author

Susan K. Mikota’s career in wildlife medicine began the year she graduated from the University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine. She says, “I was simply in the right place at the right time when the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans was transitioning into a world class zoo. I’d had only two weeks of on-the-job training when attending veterinarian Dr. Andy Gutter was offered a trip to Africa. He left me the phone numbers of two other zoo veterinarians and gave me these instructions: ‘Don’t kill the gorilla.’ Luckily, the gorilla and I both survived.” In 1985, Dr. Mikota became the zoo’s first full-time veterinarian. In subsequent years, she has served as president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians, chairperson of the Zoo Conservation Outreach Group, director of Veterinary Services at Audubon Zoo, director of Veterinary Research and Animal Health for the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES), and chair of the National Tuberculosis Working Group for Zoo and Wildlife Species. Dr. Mikota is currently director of Veterinary Programs and Research for Elephant Care International, a non-profit organization she co-founded.