Dr. Taylor Yaw, Vice President of Science and Animal Health, believes veterinary medicine represents the core and heart of the Zoo’s mission. It’s no surprise, then, that the Zoo’s proposed new Bill and Berniece Grewcock Animal Hospital, slated to open in fall 2025, gets him excited about the future.

“We have a world-class veterinary team,” says Dr Yaw, “so let’s give them a world-class hospital to work in.”

Of the many benefits that the new hospital will bring to the Zoo, one of the most important will be the capability to train and teach the next generation of veterinary professionals, including veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

Explains Dr. Yaw, “I think it’s going to be a hub in the Midwest where everyone will want to train. A facility where people from around the world and many different backgrounds can come together.”

The key to training students will be technologies that take into account the unique challenges of practicing veterinary medicine in a zoo setting. This includes camera systems and other viewing technologies that allow students to observe and learn safely, both at the zoo and from remote locations.

“The new animal hospital will be designed so students can actually see what’s going on in the treatment room and in the surgical room,” continues Dr. Yaw. “So veterinary students don’t have to be in the treatment room with a tiger or other dangerous animal. They can stand on the outside and have a firsthand view of the procedure.”

Once the new hospital is completed, the Zoo expects to start hosting students from across the nation, who will spend anywhere from four to six weeks at the hospital.

Explains Dr. Yaw, “In the future, when I travel to another zoo and visit its veterinary hospital, I want to see internship residency certificates from Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. That will be amazing.”

In Africa and Asia, a rhino is poached every 10 to 12 hours. This sad fact, among many other environmental threats, is why the work of Dr. Monica Stoops and her team at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is so vitally important.

“Currently, our rhino populations are not sustainable,” explained Dr. Stoops, the Zoo’s Director of Reproductive Sciences. “We are working to change that, so future generations can see rhinos 100 years from now.”

Dr. Stoops oversees the Zoo’s managed breeding programs, which are critical for the survival of threatened and endangered species, including several species of rhinos. The Zoo is working to transform how certain animal populations can become more genetically and demographically viable.

For rhinos, a major complicating factor in strengthening their populations is that rhinos have lengthy pregnancies of about 16 months. Also, a female can only reproduce every three years. Because of this, there is a need to bolster the female rhino population. To that end, Dr. Stoops and her team have developed a sex-sorted artificial insemination program that is biased to produce more female calves.

“This does not replace natural breeding,” said Dr. Stoops, “but is a way to help support the overall population.” Marshall, the Zoo’s first Indian rhino calf, was a result of natural breeding. However, through the sex-sorted artificial insemination program,

Marshall’s mom Hilary should have a female calf next time. When that happens, it will be another success story in the ongoing conservation efforts of the dedicated teams at the Omaha Zoo.

For Dr. Elizabeth Mulkerrin, Vice President of Education at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, there is nothing more important than the Zoo’s responsibility to the next generation. In her words, “We aim to inspire and engage students to become stewards of the natural world, throughout their lives.”

The eXplore Your Zoo (XYZ) program plays a critical role in achieving this vision. Part of the overall youth volunteer program, XYZ serves students from the 4th to 6th grade. These youth act as mini-docents, educating visitors to the Zoo. To prepare, they get to learn about the animals themselves, get hands-on experiences, and interact firsthand with keepers and research staff.

Although there is small fee required to be part of the program, the Zoo does not want that to be a barrier for anyone who wants to participate. In fact, the Zoo just received a grant from U.S. Bank help make the program accessible to a more diverse group of volunteers, youth who may lack access to transportation or with financial needs that make it hard to be part of the program. Through the grant, the Zoo hopes to add 40 to 50 students from underserved communities. Overall, the program serves about 150 students.

Said Dr. Mulkerrin, “We are trying to establish that everyone from any community can see themselves as a scientist and a conservationist.”

Beyond the grant, the Zoo continues its commitment to make its education programs more diverse and inclusive, with ongoing financial support needed for transportation, scholarship funding and more.

Commented Jocelyn Harrison, the Lead Manager of Visitor and Volunteer Engagement, “We are building those future conservationists, so maybe in 20 years they may be changing the world.”