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 animals 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.

Happy World Rhino Day! 🦏We're celebrating with something new: our very first podcast-style interview! We sat down with W...
09/22/2026

Happy World Rhino Day! 🦏

We're celebrating with something new: our very first podcast-style interview! We sat down with Wild Animal Health Fund-funded researcher Drew Arbogast to talk about a simple question with big implications: what can a routine blood sample tell us about a rhino's health?

Drew and his team analyzed samples from 40 black rhinos and 71 white rhinos in professional care. One exciting finding is that the hormone DHEA rises throughout pregnancy, giving veterinarians a new tool for monitoring rhino pregnancies.

As Drew told us, "With every donation we're able to include another rhino, or another blood sample in our analyses and it goes such a long way."

🎧 Give it a listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3gkgstXz1IxEUM7P2FzmVE?si=60NyWksNRPmTmaesKZ6Zdg

Donate on World Rhino Day: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund



Photos by Drew Arbogast • Cincinnati Zoo

September is Animal Pain Awareness Month. Tigers can live with arthritis, injuries and recovery from surgery, but the me...
09/21/2026

September is Animal Pain Awareness Month. Tigers can live with arthritis, injuries and recovery from surgery, but the medication doses used to treat them have long been borrowed from house cats and scaled up to a tiger's size.

🐅 A study funded by Wild Animal Health Fund donors put that to the test with a common anti-inflammatory. The house cat dose sent medication levels in tigers' blood surprisingly high. A fraction of it matched the levels house cats reach, and it can be given as a simple injection to an awake tiger.

One open question, now answered for the veterinarians who care for these animals. That's what your support makes possible.

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

September is Animal Pain Awareness Month, and for a rhino, even pain medication is tricky. It usually goes in food, and ...
09/21/2026

September is Animal Pain Awareness Month, and for a rhino, even pain medication is tricky. It usually goes in food, and a sick rhino often stops eating right when they need relief most.

Skin that thick was assumed to block medication applied to the surface. WAHF donors funded a closer look. Dr. Kristen Phair's team at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance applied a pain medication to the skin of thirteen white rhinos, and it absorbed, lasting long enough for once-daily dosing with only mild, short-lived effects.

Because of you, a rhino in pain can now be treated even if they turn away from food.

Photo: Dr. Kristen Phair, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

📚 Ever wondered what it takes to care for a patient that weighs two tons? Or just a few ounces?The Rhino with Glue-On Sh...
09/16/2026

📚 Ever wondered what it takes to care for a patient that weighs two tons? Or just a few ounces?

The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes shares real cases from zoo and wildlife veterinarians. It's a fascinating look at the science and compassion behind wild animal care.

Our team loved this collection, edited by American Association of Zoo Veterinarians member Lucy H. Spelman and Ted Y. Mashima. We're big believers in lifelong learning, and Dr. Spelman's new book, Creature Needs: Writers Respond to the Science of Animal Conservation, is next on our list!

What animal books are you reading? Tell us in the comments 👇

🐬 Today is World Dolphin Day, and we're celebrating what our donors have made possible, from lifesaving veterinary break...
09/12/2026

🐬 Today is World Dolphin Day, and we're celebrating what our donors have made possible, from lifesaving veterinary breakthroughs to knowledge shared with researchers worldwide.

🇧🇷 In Brazil, research into endangered Franciscana dolphin calves has transformed veterinary care, extending survival in rehabilitation from a maximum of five days to several months.

🇧🇴 In Bolivia, a study on river dolphins translocated away from human disturbance is helping guide safer conservation decisions for this vulnerable species.

🇺🇸 In the U.S., research into deadly morbillivirus infections in dolphins is helping veterinarians detect and respond to disease outbreaks in wild populations sooner.

None of this happens without you. Every gift to WAHF funds the science that keeps dolphins healthier, and builds a growing body of knowledge that veterinarians and researchers worldwide can draw on for years to come.

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

🐬

When you support the Wild Animal Health Fund, you're funding research that gives veterinarians the knowledge to diagnose...
09/11/2026

When you support the Wild Animal Health Fund, you're funding research that gives veterinarians the knowledge to diagnose, treat, and protect wild animals.

Your generosity turns into lifesaving science. Donate today: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/wildanimalhealthfund

Happy International Primate Day 🐒🦍🦧One of the six studies you're funding in 2026: Dr. Megan Roeder is testing whether a ...
09/01/2026

Happy International Primate Day 🐒🦍🦧

One of the six studies you're funding in 2026: Dr. Megan Roeder is testing whether a portable A1c device can catch early diabetes risk in Hamadryas baboons. Diabetes is hard to manage in primates, and 30% of AZA institutions have reported at least one diabetic primate.

🎥 Hear her explain the work: https://canva.link/9b23sk6xdc27mmw

Since 2012, donors have funded 176 wildlife health projects and $1.92 million in research.

North Carolina Zoo

Photo (c) North Carolina Zoo

Meet one of the studies your gifts are funding in 2026: a health and ocular assessment of free-ranging cownose rays.Cown...
08/30/2026

Meet one of the studies your gifts are funding in 2026: a health and ocular assessment of free-ranging cownose rays.

Cownose rays are one of the species people are most likely to meet up close, in touch pools and aquarium habitats across the country. But there is surprisingly little baseline data on what a healthy wild ray looks like, especially when it comes to eye health. This study fills that gap, giving veterinarians wild reference values to compare against, so problems in the animals under their care can be caught earlier and treated better.

It joins the 176 research projects and $1.92 million in grants the Wild Animal Health Fund has awarded since 2012. Every one of those studies began with donors who decided that wild animal health was worth funding. Thank you for being part of that.

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

🐘 Today is World Elephant Day.For over a decade, our donors have funded fifteen elephant health studies across African a...
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

🦁 Happy World Lion Day!Thanks to donors like you, the Wild Animal Health Fund supported a study of big cats, including l...
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

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