BettyBookmark Review of HIPPO

To see the review online, here's the link:

http://www.bettybookmark.co.uk/books/september09/hippo.htm

Meet Mohan, a rhino with painfully sore feet.

And Patch, a falcon with a broken wishbone

And Kachina, a bear cub with brittle bones

Not to mention Alfredito, a hippo suffering from a sever bout of toothache.

All these animals owe their lives to the dedicated zoo and wild animal vets who employ boundless ingenuity and expertise to care for them and who, in this beguiling book, tell the stories of their most memorable cases. They describe not only the meticulous detective work that goes into making a diagnosis but also the pioneering techniques they have developed. And they talk freely and movingly about the bonds they form with their exotic patients.

Whether it's one doctor's determined effort to save a critically ill lemur, the neurosurgeon who was persuaded to operate on a paralysed kangaroo , or the vet who refused to give up on an orphaned baby beluga whale , these are acts of rescue, kindness and co-operation that will warm every animal lover's heart.

The Hippo With Toothache

and other heartwarming stories of zoo and wild animals and the vets who care for them

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books (3 Sep 2009)
• ISBN-10: 1847945988
• ISBN-13: 978-1847945983
• RRP: £10 

November 15 Hipomojo blog

Alfredito the Hippo Had a Tooth Ache

Once upon a time there was a hippo called Alfredito who had a tooth ache. Luckily for Alfredito, he lived in a zoo and one day the zoo’s vet noticed Alfredito’s dull, quiet behavior and discovered the hippo’s infected tusk. But the Central American vet did not know how to sedate the three-thousand pound animal; nor did he know how to treat the incisor. So the vet called another vet who lived in the U.S. She called all her colleagues to ask if anyone knew how to do a root canal on a hippo, but no one did. So she plotted a course of action, packed her medical bags, and headed to the National Zoo of El Salvador.

In case you were wondering, it’s very difficult to anesthetize a hippo. It’s paramount that the hippo land on his sternum when it succumbs to the drug in order to keep his breathing passages open. Further, he cannot be allowed to enter the water after being darted for fear of drowning. After all, hippos are very heavy and difficult to move.

Alfredito was a friendly hippo whose keeper daily entered the exhibit with him and placed heads of cabbage directly into his mouth, an unusual arrangement for this often temperamental species. He was very popular at the zoo.

The American vet darted Alfredito three times before he sunk into sleep. The dental technician started work on the tooth while the two vets monitored the hippo’s respiration and heartbeat. After a dramatic moment when Alfredito stopped breathing and was injected with a respiratory stimulant and a reversal agent, the work was done. Alfredito was closely observed for the next day but recovered well. Soon he was back in his starring role as head hippo.

Ladyrhian on November 28, 2008 for Deep Thoughts blog:

by Jackie, December 8, for Book Wolves Blog

The author gathered 29 other zoo vets from all over the world and each contributed a chapter to this fascinating book. “Wildlife vet” would be more accurate, since not all of them work in zoos, some rehabilitate native animals to be re-released back into the wild. Others care for animals not captive at all, but go into jungles to track an elephant with a snare wire on its leg or into the Gobi desert, where jeep engines must be thawed with blowtorches, to monitor endangered wild camels. In fact, every chapter is packed with adventure, fun facts, anecdotes and often, danger. If you

like animals, you will enjoy this book.
That is not to say that each story has a happy ending, some don’t and some, it’s unknown what happened to the animals, especially if they were encountered in the wild. Many of the vets developed innovative treatments: anesthetizing frogs, fixing shoulder bones on raptors, modifying horseshoes to fit the rhino of the title with a foot infection. There’s quite a bit about vets that deal with aquatic creatures, from octopi to sharks to goldfish. It’s a relatively new field, where knowledge is scarce, but growing by leaps and bounds.

Correspondent Isaiah Guzman writes for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.  He wrote this review after listening to Lucy give a talk about RHINO and her work with mountain gorillas at the Long Marine Lab, UC Santa Cruz, Seymour Discovery Marine Center.

Vets share their wild animal stories - ISAIAH GUZMAN - SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT, October 17, 2008

Article Launched: 10/17/2008 01:31:06 AM PDT

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