Query: Reader Alex P. asks what Maymont does with the stays of animals as they move, like that buffalo that died in April.
I realized rather a lot within the strategy of searching this, together with that the animal in query was a bison, not a buffalo, and that her identify was Snoopy.
Enjoyable reality: Maymont’s main veterinarian, Gavin McGrath, tells me that there aren’t any buffalo in North America, solely bison, which used to roam freely in Virginia as soon as in a historic time.
Again to Snoopy: McGrath says she got here to Maymont from Virginia Zoo in Norfolk. Snoopy lived in Maymont for 19 years earlier than dying of outdated age, simply shy of her twenty first birthday.
What occurred then: When an animal dies in Maymont, they go to a veterinarian for an post-mortem to “perceive the precise reason behind dying” and to see if Maymont must make any adjustments to animal care, spokeswoman Melissa Abernathy informed Axios.
- Small animals go to Wellesley Animal Hospital in Richmond, and huge ones go to the Virginia Division of Agriculture and Client Companies laboratory in Harrisonburg.
- After the post-mortem, the veterinarians cremate the stays – and in some instances, the Maymont workers obtain some ashes as a memento, particularly in the event that they had been near the actual animal.
- Some workers even have clay footprints of the animals, taken earlier than they’re cremated, on their desks.
Additionally: When Maymont is aware of an animal must be killed, workers plan a big day for the creature, stuffed with their favourite meals and actions, stated McGrath, the vet.
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