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The annual conference of the AAZV (American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, http://www.aazv.org/) is always held in autumn. Here there is enough room for mutual information flow amongst the colleagues of this association and the practising veterinarians of the EAZWV (European Association of Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians) as many European colleagues regularly visit this event. The two associations have become closer and closer as they function nowadays; as a conclusion of this they will hold a common conference in 2016 in Atlanta, USA.
The 2013 annual cconference AAZV was hold between 28 September and 4 October in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States of America). The HELICON Life Plus program was presented in the „Conservation implementation” section, as the only selected European project amongst the six American and international studies. The title of my talk was: „Why eagles are falling from the sky – the fight against bird crime to save the eagles of Hungary”. Its main topic included the threats and veterinarian actions which are implemented by a number of stakeholders, e.g. the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden or the NÉBIH-ÁDI (formerly Central Veterinarian Institute).
The scientific program of the conference started with this conservation section. Addionally, more than 400 vets were present at this event, from 27 countries.
The actual output of my presentation and the benefit for the HELICON Life Plus program can be summarised in the followings:
- meeting of a number American and European colleagues and discuss practical issues regarding raptor and bird rescue, treatment and emergency protocols
- the herpetological section had a presentation about box turtle conservation in Missouri; the animals are located with the help of trained dogs; a discussion with the participants of this program gave us some hints for our own seeking dog program (Falco, our trained dog helps the HELICON Life Plus program with great efficiency).
- The Englih presentation (collecting all the health and related conservation issues of this topic) was translated into Hungarian and was presented for more than 70 vets and other participants on 27 March, 2014 (with up-to-date follow ups).
Dr. Endre Sós - Budapest Zoo