Construction has started on Australia’s first ever wildlife specialist teaching veterinary hospital, to be housed at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.
The $80 million state-of-the-art facility will replace the current hospital, which has played a critical role in wildlife care since the 1970’s.
The new Taronga Wildlife Hospital will expand the zoo’s critical rescue and rehabilitation work by delivering new surgical, rehabilitation and recovery facilities to cater for hundreds of animals per year, said Premier, Chris Minns.
“Taronga’s new wildlife hospital will be a truly unique facility as Australia’s first wildlife specialist teaching hospital,” said Mr Minns.
“Once opened, this new hospital will allow specialist vets to deliver treatments, surgeries, and rehabilitation for our native species – and families will be able to come to watch them in action doing what they do best.
“Our country is fortunate to have so many unique species and this facility will enable us to protect even more of our Australian wildlife for generations to come.”
As a dedicated specialist teaching hospital, it will also enable widespread training and upskilling of wildlife carers, students and veterinary practitioners – further protecting Australia’s unique biodiversity against ever increasing natural disasters.
The 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires affected billions of animals, including koalas, wallabies, platypus and critically endangered amphibians which Taronga’s hospital team was instrumental in treating.
“As natural disasters become more common, veterinarians and vet nurses are increasingly being called upon to rescue and rehabilitate severely impacted wildlife,” said Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe.
“This facility will not only give us the tools we need to rehabilitate our wildlife, it will also allow for us to share critical knowledge with wildlife carers all over the state,” she said.
Taronga Conservation Society Australia Chief Executive, Cameron Kerr AO said Taronga’s Wildlife Hospitals in Sydney and Dubbo treat approximately 1,500 sick, injured or orphaned native animals for treatment and rehabilitation a year, caring for a range of wildlife from marine turtles to echidnas, possums, sea birds and snakes.
“Every year, we see first-hand the increasing need to treat and care for wildlife. At Taronga, we are driven by our purpose to secure a shared future for wildlife and people. We knew we had a duty to forge the next step,” said Mr Kerr.
“The new Taronga Wildlife Hospital will allow our expert veterinary team to care for and protect even more of our precious, native animals, and inspire future conservationists and veterinary practitioners to protect Australia’s unique species.”
Taronga’s new multipurpose facility will feature:
- – Modern surgical facilities and specialised rehabilitation and recovery spaces for species such as marine turtles, reptiles and amphibians before they return to the wild;
- – Increased quarantine facilities for animals confiscated in illegal wildlife trade seizures and for those transferred from other zoos as part of global conservation breeding programs;
- – Australia’s first Zoo Nutrition Centre dedicated to managing the diets of the zoo’s animals;
- – A pathology lab for onsite analysis and testing;
- – Public viewing galleries through which zoo guests can safely watch animal health checks and veterinary procedures.
The new hospital is being funded by the NSW Government through an investment of $40.7 million. A further $40 million is being raised through philanthropic donations, the Government confirmed.
The Government is currently undertaking state-wide consultation on the wildlife rehabilitation sector to gain a detailed understanding of how NSW can improve the way it cares for native animals.
