Building a Red River Hog (Potamochoerus porcus) Restraint on Scraps J. Blessington, Zoo Keeper*, K. Wanders, Keeper III Kansas City Zoo Missouri , USA
Ekundu, our male Red River Hog, was born July 8, 1995 and came to Kansas City in April 5, 2003 . For the first couple of years in Kansas City , he lived and was exhibited in our ‘Bomas’ area. In January of 2004, until now, he is housed and exhibited in our ‘Bongo’ area. While in bomas, the staff had ‘free contact’ with him and did much ‘hands on’ grooming. A weight board conditioning program was also started. Once moving to bongo he was in a breeding situation. Because of the setup in the current barn and housing situation, there is no longer ‘free contact’ with him. In 2008 at ~13 years of age, he started to develop different medical issues and had chronic weight loss. Because of these conditions and our current program setup, it was decided that we needed to build a pig ‘restraint’. As with many institutions, finances are limited and purchasing a specialized restraint was not an option. So, staff at the time collected scrap materials and put together their very own ‘red river hog restraint’ made out of: 2x4, plywood, metal conduit piping, and 4x4 panel wire. The restraint has been utilized for several procedures in the last year: Weights Expression of prepuce and hydrotherapy Eye flushes Jaw abscess lance and aspiration Blood pressures Blood draws Hoof treatment In the future, we would like to perform radiographs on Ekundu, but will have to make modifications of the metal piping. The piping can easily be removed and replaced with pvc pipe. Overall, this restraint made from scraps has been an invaluable tool. You never know what you can build will a little imagination, wood, metal and desire.
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