"It's a very unique place," says Sophie Asp Laursen about Nordens Ark, where she has been deputizing as a vet for just over a year.

"Nordens Ark is built on a strong vision of conservation, and I don't know of anywhere else with such a clear focus on vulnerable and endangered species. We do conservation work both here and in the wield, and we reintroduce a lot of animals that were bred here and then released in national parks around the world," she says.

European bison is a favorite

The collection of animals includes endangered felines like snow leopard and Persian leopard, along with dhole, urial, Przewalski wild horse, Pallas cat and a number of endangered and unique bird and amphibian species. The primary focus is on cold climate species.  

"I enjoy working with our big animals, especially our European bison. But I also think the wolverine is a really cool animal, and the maned wolf is just such a fascinating, almost fantasy-like creature," says Sophie Asp Laursen.

As a veterinarian at Nordens Ark, she is in the peculiar position of hoping that her help will not be needed.

'We, of course, don't want the animals to get sick or injured and need veterinary care. That's why we do a lot of preventive treatments and health checks. About once a week, we have immobilizations of one of our bigger animals. We prefer to sedate by hand, but not all animals can be approached easily, so we use DANiNJECT equipment for them,' says Sophie Asp Laursen.

Planning and preparing immobilizations

She uses the blowpipe herself for some animals but doesn't yet have a hunting licence, which is mandatory in Sweden in order to use the injection rifle.

"So instead, our vet nurse and I plan the procedure and prepare the darts, and then a zookeeper and a trained shooter immobilize the animal. For example, when we have to move one of our bachelor urials to the breeding group," she explains.

Sophie Asp Laursen has recently completed an immobilization course and is in the process of getting her hunting licence so that she can tranquillize the animals herself in the future. This discipline was particularly needed at Nordens Ark this autumn.

Bluetongue disease at the doorstep

"The first case of bluetongue disease in Sweden was found just 30 kilometres from here, so we chose to vaccinate our hoofed animals as we have many with a high breeding value. Most of the domestic animals were vaccinated by hand, but we had around 20 that were vaccinated with either blowpipe or injection rifle. All in just a couple of days, so that was a pretty busy period," says Sophie Asp Laursen, who will soon be heading for new adventures.

From March, she will be moving to Scandinavia's largest zoo, Kolmården Wildlife Park, south of Stockholm.

Photo credit: Nordens Ark