Every morning, the first thought on Lucy Spelman's '85 mind is, "Are the animals OK?" For Spelman, regional veterinary manager of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, the well-being of wild and domestic animals is a crucial part of her daily life.
Last night, Spelman spoke on her newly published book, "The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and Their Patients," in Carmichael Auditorium. Spelman signed copies of the book following the lecture.
A collection of essays written by various veterinarians recounting their strange and humorous encounters with their patients, the book offers readers the chance to understand exactly what veterinarians experience and how important their work is for animal health, Spelman told the audience.
For Spelman, her journey in becoming a veterinarian started with her undergraduate experience at Brown. A biology concentrator, Spelman worked on an independent study project with Professor of Biology Ken Miller '70 P'02 where she studied cell membrane morphology.
After graduating from Brown, Spelman went to veterinary school at the University of California, Davis, and residencies in Raleigh and Asheboro, N.C. Spelman said the chance to work with experienced veterinarians provided her with an environment in which she wasn't afraid to ask difficult questions. "The value of residency training is in developing new kinds of questions on how to help your patients," she said.
Spelman earned her board certification from the American College of Zoological Medicine in 1994 -- an achievement she said allowed her to leave behind the academic aspects of veterinary medicine. "It was a great chance for me to knit things together -- I got to move away from being in a purely academic realm," Spelman said.
Spelman began working as a practicing veterinarian for the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. for the next five years before serving as the director of the Smithsonian National Zoo from 2001 until 2005.
"I took that job because it tied back to that question of, 'Are the animals OK?,'" Spelman told the audience. Monitoring the way in which other veterinarians were ensuring the health of the zoo's animals was central to the position, she said.
It was in this role that Spelman met Mohan, the Indian rhinoceros referenced in the title of her book.
From 2005 to 2006, Spelman served as a consultant for the Discovery Channel. While she saw the position as a chance to educate television viewers about issues surrounding animals, Spelman said she feels that television is not the best medium to capture the realities of her field. "The raw challenge of taking care of animals is not well covered in television and other usual forms of media -- to me, writing is the best form," Spelman said.
In 2006, Spelman left the Discovery Channel for her current position as veterinary manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. By working on the project, Spelman takes on the legacy left by Dian Fossey, the founder of the program whose story was made famous by her memoir and the film that it inspired, "Gorillas in the Mist."
Spelman said that the greatest challenge facing the Rwandan mountain gorillas is the fact that their environment is surrounded by humans. "Gorilla and human health are connected. When I was traveling through Rwanda, I did not see one human child without a runny nose, or who was not crying -- it's the same health concerns for the gorillas," Spelman told the audience.
The veterinary project even provides basic health care for the local workers who help take care of the gorillas. Spelman said that she and her colleagues have provided glasses for local workers with sight problems and screen the workers for infectious diseases.
The population range for these gorillas only extends in two separate areas -- one in Rwanda and one covering Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is an estimated total populations of 750 gorillas. Spelman said that a danger facing these gorillas is the fact that three-quarters of the total mountain gorilla population has become accustomed and desensitized to their human neighbors.
"In Rwanda there are roughly 600 people per square kilometer. That is a health risk to the mountain gorilla populations," Spelman said.
Dealing with such impoverished human populations is just as much a responsibility for the eight veterinarians working on the Rwanda project as is dealing with the health of the mountain gorillas.
There are no health clinics for the human populations near the gorillas and very minimal limited veterinary care for domestic animals, Spelman said. "The health habitat is low for humans, animals and for gorillas," she said.
While traps set by hunters are a common threat, Spelman said that human disease is proving a more prominent danger to the gorilla communities. Hepatitis, polio and tuberculosis are just a few of the diseases that affect the mountain gorilla population.
For Spelman, being able to help animals is the realization of her childhood dream. "I wanted to be a vet from the time I was really young -- of course this desire didn't really become a reality until I was an undergraduate in college," she told The Herald.
While she has received praise from peers for the book, Spelman told The Herald that she gets the greatest joy from hearing the reactions from average readers. "I'm not surprised (about its reception) - I know how powerful it is to work with animals and the joy that animals bring to others," she said.
"The reactions of the reader has taught me that a book has a life of its own, reading is the basis for giving knowledge."
