With gills, fins and scales, it's certainly not every day you see a fish on a vet's examination table. But no animal is too big, small or complicated to receive quality health care at Perth Zoo.
When keepers noticed some unusual lesions on the fish's scales, veterinary staff were called in to give the pair a thorough check over.
While under sedation, our teams carefully lifted the fish out of the water to examine their body condition, cleaned some troublesome scales, took bloods to check health status and administered antibiotics to help ward off any infection.
Interestingly, fish can be kept out of water for several minutes if they are kept wet and water is flushed regularly on their gills.
Thanks to skill and expertise, both procedures went swimmingly, and after a quick recovery both fish swum back into their pond and were closely monitored.
Perth Zoo's school of Koi fish live a quiet life behind-the-scenes in the Japanese Gardens. Here, they are often visited by school groups participating in the Zoo's Discovery and Learning programs.
With more than 1300 animals calling Perth Zoo home, our veterinary team is responsible for delivering top notch medical treatment for hundreds of native and exotic species.
Whether mammal, reptile, bird or amphibian, all animals great and small are given the same quality care and attention.