Wild Animal Health Fund

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Wild Animal Health Fund

Saving wildlife by solving their health issues! A program of AAZV 🦓🐘🦏🐅🐢🐆 But who is helping the wild animals that are sick . . . injured . . . or even dying?

There are dozens — perhaps hundreds — of nonprofit organizations working to save critical habitats worldwide. And who is helping the zoo animals that are in many cases our only hope to prevent extinction? We are, with The Wild Animal Health Fund. In 2005, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV) launched The Wild Animal Health Fund to fund critical research and studies that give zoo an

imals and wildlife a better quality of life. The Fund is very different than other environment-focused conservation organizations. While other groups do the important work of preserving and protecting natural habitats, The Wild Animal Health Fund focuses on the animals themselves — everything from tiny tree frogs to humpback whales. The Wild Animal Health Fund has one goal: To optimize the health, welfare and conservation of zoo animals and wildlife through critical research and studies.

08/12/2026

🐘 Today is World Elephant Day.

For over a decade, our donors have funded fifteen elephant health studies across African and Asian species, from zoo-housed herds to the parks of Uganda and South Africa. That work spans EEHV, a virus that can take a young elephant in a matter of days, along with research into tuberculosis, nutrition, joint health, and how elephants' bodies change through life stages like musth.

As Dr. Chase LaDue puts it, WAHF-funded research let scientists study elephant health "the way it actually works". That progress exists because people chose to invest in wildlife health. Every study started with one donor who believed these animals were worth it.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this work possible. 🧡🤎

Want to be part of what comes next? Become a monthly donor: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund/frequency/m

📷 Dr. Chase LaDue

08/10/2026

🦁 Happy World Lion Day!

Thanks to donors like you, the Wild Animal Health Fund supported a study of big cats, including lions, on the compulsive behaviors some develop, and discovered ways to interrupt the these behaviors. The findings are now headed for a peer-reviewed veterinary journal.

Your giving became published science and better daily care for lions and their fellow big cats. That's the difference you make. 🐾

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

07/29/2026

🐅 Happy World Tiger Day!

Tigers can suffer from painful conditions like arthritis and injuries, and caring for them well is a real challenge. Thanks to our donors, the Wild Animal Health Fund supported research into safer, more effective pain relief for tigers, knowledge that can help these big cats around the world live more comfortably.

Every tiger deserves good care, and your support makes it possible. Thank you.

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

🤎🧡

07/21/2026

July is Wild About Wildlife Month! Because of supporters like you, the Wild Animal Health Fund is supporting 12 new studies this year, more than $146,000 in wild animal health research. That means veterinarians and researchers tackling the diseases and health issues threatening wild animals, and finding answers that save lives. 🧡🤎

This month is a chance to celebrate what you've made possible, and a chance to do a little more: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

Thank you for being wild about wildlife with us. 🦉

07/13/2026

Blood transfusions can be life-saving treatments for animals of many different species. 🩸 Blood transfusions can be more difficult to perform in zoo animals, however. Juggling two potential anesthesia patients (blood donor and recipient) and finding out if the blood is compatible in species that don’t yet have defined blood types makes for a lot of extra work.

Blood transfusions at zoos and aquariums are also rare enough that blood banked via refrigeration will almost always expire too quickly before being used. This Wild Animal Health Fund-supported study investigated if red blood cells could be frozen for later transfusions.

Freezing cells is not usually possible due to ice crystals breaking down the cells, but this study used special solutions to allow freezing of the red blood cells and found that at least some red blood cells survive for blood compatibility testing and potential transfusion in all 24 different species tested.

More testing will be needed to optimize this process for each species, since so many different types of red blood cells exist, but this study has proven that this approach to red blood cell banking for zoo animals may be possible.

🧡🤎 Support life-saving science like this: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

07/09/2026

Wild Animal Health Fund is supporting groundbreaking research into reproductive cancer in California sea lions. 🦭🔬

This is the kind of work that moves wildlife health forward, and it's possible because of donors like you.

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

Pictured: Dr. Lydia Hall performing the 5mC immunohistochemical assay on California sea lion tissues. A veterinary pathologist and graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Hall conducts this lab work as part of her PhD project studying reproductive cancer in California sea lions. Wild Animal Health Fund supports this research.

06/17/2026

Happy World Croc Day! 🐊

Today we're celebrating magnificent crocodiles, and the vets working to keep them healthy. We're proud to support Dr. Ellie Milnes' new study "Medetomidine, midazolam, and neuromuscular blockers in Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus)".

Want to hear more from Dr. Milnes about her work? Check out her interview here: https://canva.link/wahfelliemilnes

Wild animal health is the missing piece in conservation. 🤎🧡 https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

06/15/2026

Wild animals face threats we can't always see - disease, stress, environmental change. The Wild Animal Health Fund supports peer-reviewed wildlife health research that makes a real difference.

🤎🧡 Your gift funds the science that keeps wildlife healthy:
https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

06/12/2026

There's still so much to learn about sand tiger sharks. 🦈

Because of generous donors, researchers are using f***l DNA metabarcoding to study what these sharks eat as they grow and develop in the . That's in action - turning into real conservation impact. Every gift powers discoveries like this one, helping protect species for the long haul.

https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

05/30/2026

🦭 Happy World Sea Lion Day!

We have exciting news to share. The Wild Animal Health Fund recently funded a new study, "Elucidating specific DNA methylation alterations in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) with urogenital carcinoma," research affiliated with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Why it matters: urogenital carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in wild California sea lions. By studying DNA methylation, the chemical changes that switch genes on and off, researchers can detect disease earlier and uncover the risk factors behind it. Because sea lions are sentinels of ocean health, what we learn from them helps protect the wider marine world too.

Ready to power more science that saves species? 🧡🤎https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

Address

370 Zoo Parkway
Jacksonville, FL
32097

Telephone

+19046432637

Website

http://www.WildAnimalHealthFund.org/

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