SECRETARY'S REPORT 149 



VETERINARIAN'S REPORT 



The work in this department during the past year has been some- 

 what curtailed in its professional aspects owing to the promotion of 

 the veterinarian to Acting Director upon the retirement of Dr. William 

 M. Mann. The majority of his time has been absorbed in administra- 

 tive duties which have, regrettably, necessitated leaving undone much 

 of the routine veterinary work. 



Several programs that had been started and that require much time 

 and constant attention have been curtailed. Every effort has been 

 made to see that the health of the animals in the Park is safeguarded, 

 and necessary medications and treatment have been given. Particu- 

 lar emphasis has been placed upon the nutritional aspects of veterinary 

 practice and changes in and additions to the diets have been made. 

 This has meant a great deal of extra work on the part of the veteri- 

 narian with rather long hours. He has had to be on duty almost every 

 day of the year to fulfill the dual requirements. With the addition 

 of Mr. Grimmer as Assistant Director, the administrative duties have 

 become less arduous. It is expected that after the first part of the 

 next fiscal year a full-time veterinarian will be in residence, so that the 

 programs already started can be continued, and new and better prac- 

 tices put into effect. 



Owing to the intense interest among zoo veterinarians and all zoo 

 people in the aspergillosis infection of birds, particularly penguins, 

 there has been instituted a cooperative study with Dr. William Sladen, 

 an English medical biologist, in residence at Johns Hopkins Uni- 

 versity on a Kockefeller scholarship, and Dr. Carlton Herman of the 

 United States Fish and Wildlife Eesearch Laboratory at Patuxent, 

 Md., on various aspects of aspergillosis. Studies are being under- 

 taken (1) to determine the best method of artificial infection; (2) to 

 find the mode of natural transmission ; (3) to develop a sensitivity test 

 or some other method that will lead to an early diagnosis of this 

 disease; (4) to find the most efficacious method of treatment. In con- 

 nection with this last problem, several new drugs have been tried out 

 by various routes of administration. So far, the work has been prom- 

 ising and many new facts have been learned about the disease although 

 no definite conclusions have as yet been reached. 



Following are the statistics for the mortality rates during the past 

 fiscal year and a table of comparison with the last 5 years : 



Mortality, fiscal year 1957 



Mammals 159 



Birds 165 



Reptiles 176 



Amphibians 25 



Fishes, arachnids, insects, etc 24 



Total 549 



Total mortality, past 6 fiscal years 



1953 672 



1954 648 



1955 735 



1956 618 



1957 549 



