The Dr. Murray E. Fowler Veterinary Hospital opened on Nov. 9, 2006. Photo by Lance Armstrong

Note: This is part four in a series regarding past and present details about the Sacramento Zoo.

On a daily basis, visitors of the zoo pass by a large sign, which reads: Dr. Murray E. Fowler Veterinary Hospital. But not everyone is aware of who Murray is and why the hospital was named after him.
First of all, Murray was very connected with the zoo, as he served as its first regular veterinarian for more than two decades.
And he is also widely recognized as the “father of zoological medicine.”
His life began in 1928 in Glendale, Wash., where he resided for nearly his first two years of life before moving with his family to his father Harry C. Fowler’s old hometown of Huntington, Utah.
Two months later, in July 1930, the family moved to Salt Lake City, where Harry obtained his pharmaceutical license and began the first of his many years working at a drugstore in that city.
The Fowler family, who was actively involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, moved once again in the summer of 1933, when they acquired about a 65-acre farm between Draper and Sandy, Utah.
Because Harry worked his job as a pharmacist in Salt Lake City, he was gone a considerable amount of time during each week. Therefore, Murray and his brother, Norman, were the family’s farmhands.
Murray, who began riding horses when he was 5 years old, had an interest and a work responsibility with all kinds of farm animals, including sheep, pigs and cattle.
After graduating from Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah in 1946, Murray became eligible for the draft.
Soon afterward, Murray joined the Navy and attended a nurses’ school in San Diego. He remained in that city as a “dry land sailor” for the following two years.
Utilizing the GI Bill, Murray then attended Utah State Agricultural College (today’s Utah State University), where he ultimately earned a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry.
Because of his love for animals, Murray decided to become a veterinarian, and thus attended Iowa State College (now Iowa State University), where he graduated in 1955 as a doctor of veterinary medicine.
After working for three years as a veterinarian, who mainly worked on racehorses in the San Fernando Valley, Murray became a member of the animal surgery staff at the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Murray E. Fowler was the veterinarian of the zoo from 1967 to 1991. Photo by Lance Armstrong

In regard to how he began working at the zoo in Sacramento, Murray said, “I went (to Davis) as an equine surgeon and all during that time, I took all kinds of animals into the (university’s) clinic. Our dean, (William Pritchard), in about 1965 or something like that, told the faculty that he wanted to have a wildlife person on the faculty, and he advertised and he had no takers for two years. If that kind of position arose now, there would be hundreds of applications for that position. There was nobody in the world that was trained. One day, when I was in his presence, he was bemoaning the fact that nobody was applying, and I said, ‘Well, why don’t you let me do it?’ And he tossed the ball and that’s when I started doing work at the zoo.”
Murray proceeded to discuss his early memories of the zoo.
“Bill Steinmetz, who was a local practitioner, had been doing the (veterinarian) work at the zoo on an on-call-type basis,” Murray said. “And so, I started a couple days a week going to the zoo, taking students with me. And then I developed a program in what is called, and is still called, zoological medicine. At that time, Hank Spencer was the director of the zoo and we hit it off pretty well and it just all grew from there.”
Murray, who was once the only person in the world who had a university position and worked with wild animals, became the zoo’s first regular veterinarian in 1967.
It was also during the later 1960s when Murray visited every major zoo in the United States to communicate with other zoo veterinarians.
During another time, Murray took a sabbatical leave from the university to spend a year in the San Diego Zoo.
He has also traveled the world teaching, lecturing and caring for wild animals.
Murray, who was president of the Sacramento Zoological Society in 1978 and 1979, and again in 1991, was also asked to serve on the board of the Morris Animal Foundation.
In discussing this organization, Murray said, “It was a foundation established (in 1948) by a fellow by the name of (Dr. Mark L.) Morris and he was a veterinarian who was actually in the East. He established this foundation to do research on essentially domestic animals – dogs and cats primarily. But it expanded to horses and ultimately to wild animals, and so that organization sponsored the first edition of (the book), ‘Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine.’ We’re getting ready to publish our eighth edition of that publication. It first came out in 1978. The (book included writings) by all U.S. authors. In that particular (book), I was probably responsible for writing two-thirds of it. We covered all the animals and that book was published first by (the) W. B. Saunders (Co.) and then by Elsevier (Health Sciences). That book, in the seventh edition, went from being ‘Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine’ (to) ‘Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine.’”
Around the same time, Murray had a book about the restraint and handling of wild and domestic animals published. And altogether, he is the editor, co-editor or author of 25 books.
In commenting about his work as an author, Murray said, “As a teacher, I perceived a need for information. My name of the game was sharing and teaching.”
Murray’s name was memorialized at the zoo in a grand way with the opening of the aforementioned Dr. Murray E. Fowler Veterinary Hospital in 2006. The name was recommended to the city a year earlier by Mary Healy, the zoo’s current director.
While discussing this hospital, Murray said, “The most important thing, as far as I was concerned, is now the highest quality of medical service could be given to the animals at the zoo.”
Although Murray expressed that his work was not always as joyful and exciting as one might have perceived it, as he performed a lot of labor such as heavy lifting, long hours of kneeling and performing surgeries in the rain, he cherishes his experiences as a whole.
“I like the animals, I like the people who are caring for the animals and it has been a great career,” Murray said. “I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning, because I liked it so much.”

Sacramento Zoo’s male Sumatran Tiger, Castro, has been diagnosed with lymphoma, a form of cancer. He is being treated with chemotherapy from UC Davis vets. / Photo courtesy of Tanya Swank

Sacramento Zoo’s male Sumatran Tiger, Castro, has been diagnosed with lymphoma, a form of cancer. After consultation with animal care staff, oncologists and ultrasonagraphers at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as other zoos that have treated large cats with similar tumors, the decision was made to treat Castro with chemotherapy.

“While Castro’s prognosis is not good, we feel that this combination of drugs will give the best chance of curing his cancer while making sure that he has a good quality of life,” said Dr. Ray Wack, head of veterinary medicine at the Sacramento Zoo and clinical professor at the Wildlife Health Center within the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Zookeepers reported concerns to the Zoo’s veterinarians after they noticed changes in Castro’s behavior including decreased appetite and lethargy. An initial exam showed anemia and a low white blood cell count, which was treated with Epogen. When Castro failed to respond to this treatment, a more extensive examination was performed resulting in the diagnosis of lymphoma. After consultation with experts, a plan has been developed to give Castro two chemotherapy drugs, which will be hidden in his food.

The Animal Care staff is doing all they can to make Castro as comfortable as possible during treatment,” said Mary Healy, Zoo Director and CEO. “Cancer can affect all our lives, human and animal, but we are going to fight this and hope Castro makes a full recovery.”

Castro, age 15, came to the Sacramento Zoo from the Audubon Zoo with his mother in 1999. He and his female companion Bahagia have four living offspring who went to other Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) zoos to participate in Sumatran Tiger Species Survival Plans® (SSP). One of the offspring currently resides at the San Francisco Zoo and just fathered a cub of his own.

Sumatran Tigers are critically endangered and found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Fewer than 500 Sumatran Tigers are believed to exist in the wild and approximately 200 live in zoos around the world. The Zoo participates in the Sumatran Tiger SSPs – cooperative breeding and conservation programs designed to maintain genetically viable populations of animals in captivity, and to organize zoo- and aquarium-based efforts to preserve the species in nature.

Simon and Garfunkel once said, “It’s all happening at the zoo.”
That certainly seems to be the case at the Sacramento Zoo, which this year is celebrating its 85th anniversary with many new attractions.

Small Wonders

The zoo’s main focus right now is on its capitol improvement project called Small Wonders, for which the zoo is currently working on construction plans and permits, according to director Mary Healy.

Healy says the new exhibit will be located across from the zoo’s giraffe exhibit, aptly named Tall Wonders, and will feature four new species of animals – a pair of African monkeys called Wolf’s Guenon, an African bat called a Straw-Colored Fruit Bat, an aardvark and a mongoose.

The zoo has already acquired the Wolf’s Guenon and will acquire the other animals as the project moves forward, Healy said.
Healy said the Small Wonders exhibit will help complete an area of the zoo where consistent improvements have been made to make the animals much more visible to guests.

She also said bringing in new species of animals provides new educational opportunities.

“We’ve never had any bats on exhibit,” Healy said. “We used to have one in the education department, but we’ve never had any on exhibit, and that’s going to be a fun opportunity. Kids like bats, they’re not intimidated by them. Some adults tend to still think they’re kind of creepy, so it’s kind of fun to bring in something like that that the kids are into.”

Wild affair

Although there is currently no opening date set yet for Small Wonders, Healy hopes the zoo will be able to give a timetable update to guests at the upcoming Wild Affair fund raising event on Oct. 6.

According to marketing coordinator Marisa Hicks, Wild Affair is the zoo’s annual black tie gala dinner and auction.

“It’s our grandest event focused on adults and just raising as much money as possible for the zoo, and this year that money is going toward Small Wonders,” she said.

During this year’s event, attendees will start the evening with appetizers and cocktails, plus the chance to take special behind-the-scenes tours of zoo exhibits.

“That includes behind-the-scenes in the primate area (and) the carnivore area, the lions and tigers,” Hicks said.
Wild Affair attendees will enjoy a plated dinner by Mulvaney’s B&L, a live auction hosted by Dave Bender from CBS13 and a show put on by zoo staff.

“The show is put on by the very same staff that has done tours, so somebody who was just showing you behind-the-scenes in the primate area may now be on stage in costume,” Hicks said. “There is no end to what our passionate zoo staff will do to raise money for our exhibits here.”

For the community

In addition to Wild Affair, the zoo has a number of events coming up to help benefit its surrounding community.
For example, now until the end of August, zoo guests can bring in a new, unwrapped school supply for a school supply drive and receive $1 off general admission.

Hicks said the supplies will be donated to a school in need in the local community. In November and December, patrons can bring in a donation for either Toys for Tots or the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services and again receive $1 off general admission.

In October, the zoo’s popular Boo at the Zoo will return for two days, Oct. 30 and 31. Here kids can come in costume, visit 17 different candy stations and take rides on the “spooky” train and “creepy” carousel.

“Generally what people do on Halloween is they come to Boo at the Zoo and then they go out into Land Park and do the rest of their trick-or-treating, so it’s a real fun night,” Hicks said.

Additionally, the zoo has been hosting a number of nonprofits through different programming. For example, each night of the zoo’s summer Twilight Thursdays series gave a different nonprofit an opportunity to share its information with patrons.
Healy feels it’s important for the zoo to help out their fellow community nonprofits.

“We’re in kind of a unique position since we do get a half-million visitors to our zoo and we feel that we are in a position, kind of like the big brother, to help out some of the other organizations,” she said. “We just try to be a good partner and feel like we’re all in this together and a lot of the nonprofits are struggling.”

The next 85

As the Sacramento Zoo celebrates its 85th birthday, what’s in store for the next 85 years?
Healy says part of it will be focusing on offering more intimate experiences for zoo patrons.
“We know we’re limited with the 14 acre site (and) we want to make sure when people come here, they can see the animals up close and have interactions,” she said.

The zoo has already been moving in that direction with the all-glass river otter exhibit that allows kids to come “nose-to-nose” with the animals, the Tall Wonders giraffe exhibit that features supervised feedings twice a day and a window in the tiger exhibit where guests can sit next to the tigers.

“We just want to keep creating those kinds of special, up close experiences that make our zoo unique,” Healy said.
And Hicks says the zoo will continue to work on its main mission, which is to educate the next generation on conservation.
“They’re not going to conserve what they have today without being educated on what there is,” she said. “All of our programs (are) aimed toward engaging our audience and getting them to pay attention to conservation and observing that education so they carry it with them. And hopefully we’re creating that connection with wildlife that a lot of urban city kids don’t have.”

corrie@valcomnews.com