Knut the polar bear's medical legacy
Friday, January 3, 2014 - 08:00
in Biology & Nature
Keeping wild animals is an important component of the mission of zoos to educate the public and preserve endangered species. When animals die, tracking the potential cause becomes an investigation of pathogens from around the world. This is because zoo animals are not only potentially exposed to pathogens occurring where the zoo is located, but also to those pathogens harboured by other zoo animals. In other words: the diagnostic challenge is enormous.