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Edmund Flach - Veterinary Pathologist

What do you do on an average day at work?
I work with a microbiologist and a pathology technician to investigate what, how and why animals at the zoo become ill and die. A typical day involves meeting at 8 am with the clinical vets to review any ongoing issues and share information. After this I carry out any post mortems. This involves looking over the outside of an animal, and then opening it up to look inside, to see if there is anything unusual and to check for any diseases. Usually there are samples to send off to the microbiologist for microscopic examination of thin slices of organs (histology). My afternoons are spent writing reports, consulting with colleagues and checking on any test results that may have come back.

Why do you carry out post motems?
Carrying out post mortems can be real detective work and is important to do for many reasons. Post mortems are particularly important with animals involved in conservation projects because any important information is shared amongst zoos so that the knowledge gained from these investigations can be used in zoos all over the world to help in these conservation projects. Any underlying problems also get looked into such as poor nutrition, parasite infections or bacterial infections. From the results there can often be multiple problems discovered. Post mortems are carried out on each animal in the zoo from a partula snail weighing less than a gramme to a 3 ton elephant. Our vets play a hugely important role making sure all our animals are looked after in the best possible way here at ZSL London Zoo.