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Your Toronto Zoo faced a severe fly problem: the yaks were often covered in biting flies, and Sable developed painful, fly-swarmed sores.

The yaks in our care were too skittish for standard fly spray, so we needed a safe, effective way to give treatments, vaccines, apply repellant, and provide routine care.

With the yaks being mostly hands-off, we needed them to voluntarily participate in their own care.

We installed a new handling system and created a team training plan. Daily sessions taught the yaks to walk through the system and briefly remain inside. We focused on Sable, training her to calmly stand in the chute and accept treatment for the sores on her nose and ankles. This process also allowed us to weigh them for the first time.

Overall, the project was very successful. We vaccinated all the yaks and applied new fly tags without sedation, and we treated Autumn for an abscess. This was a great collaborative effort between Project Management and our Wildlife Health and Care teams.