Kristin Warren

Every year, over 250 endangered black cockatoos are hospitalized at the Perth Zoo Veterinary Department for illness and injuries, mostly related to vehicle strike. After hospital treatment, birds are returned to fitness at special black cockatoo rehabilitation centers. Social grouping and fitness for release are carefully managed by state wildlife officers before the birds are returned to the wild. Evaluating the success of this program has recently been made possible by the attachment of tiny satellite tracking devices to the tail feathers of released birds. This is the first time such technology has been used to gauge the success of a cockatoo rehabilitation program, and has revealed fascinating insights into the post-release behaviors and movements of these iconic birds.

People with a range of backgrounds and perspectives may apply disease risk analysis (DRA) to a broad spectrum of situations. To be successful, this Manual must communicate its contents effectively and consistently to all of these groups. In pursuit of this goal, we begin by describing a number of key concepts. Gaining an understanding of these is an important precursor to understanding the science and practice of disease risk analysis.

The new scientific discipline of conservation medicine is rapidly gaining acceptance as a framework that encompasses the complexity of disease ecology and its application to wildlife species conservation. As such, there is a burgeoning body of literature and resources available and, although it is outside the scope of this chapter to provide a comprehensive review, we have included references to some key resources for those who wish to pursue the topic in greater detail. Additional complementary information may be found in Chapters 1 and 21 Chapter 1 Chapter 21. As indicated by Deem,8 we believe that zoo veterinarians have unique skills and expertise to offer conservation medicine programs in their local communities as well as nationally and internationally. Our aim in this chapter is to inform and encourage zoo veterinarians throughout the world to become actively engaged in conservation medicine projects.