Potter Park Zoo New Animal Hospital

The new animal hospital at Potter Park Zoo (PPZ) provides the best state-of-the-art care for the animals, maintains AZA accreditation, and helps the PPZ be a leader in conservation efforts across the country. The building is approximately 5,800 square feet and includes rooms like treatment, surgery, postmortem, laboratory, offices, food prep, and quarantine holding for a variety of animal species.

The hospital provides teaching opportunities, as students from Michigan State University can get experience with animals, they may not otherwise get an opportunity to care for. The public also has exterior window seats under the covered patio so they can see how zoo animals get examined and treated, plus there are numerous educational displays. “It’s going to provide more space for care of the animals and veterinarian team, but also provide us, as people, who come to see, ‘Well, how do they brush the teeth of a tiger? I have no idea,’ so it’ll be something everyone can enjoy and experience while they’re here,” said Julie Pingston, a Board Chair in the Potter Park Zoo Zoological Society.