by Peter Holz, DVSc, MACVSc, DACZM

About His Story

"Feeling heroic, I decided that this falcon would be the one. He would live or die by the scalpel, instead of rotting in the cage. The raptor keepers took him to heart and named him “Patch,” after the spot of oddly colored feathers on his chest."

About the Author

Peter Holz graduated from the University of Melbourne veterinary school with first class honors in 1987. In 1994, he completed a combination degree as Doctor of Veterinary Science in Zoo Animal Medicine and Pathology through the University of Guelph in Canada; he became a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine in 1995 and a Member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Medicine of Zoo Animals in 1996. Dr. Holz has been employed at Healesville Sanctuary, Australia’s largest native fauna park, since 1994. His major research interests include drug pharmacokinetics in reptiles, orthopedic surgery, and rehabilitation of raptors, coccidiosis in macropods, and—more generally—the impact of disease on Australian wildlife.