AT CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO, YOUR CHILDREN CAN BE VETERINARIANS FOR A DAY! (or at least for an hour!)

During your visit to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, be sure to stop by the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine, located next to the rhino exhibit. Here, students may be able to see a real veterinarian at work and check out actual vet bags stocked full of veterinary tools of the trade.

Vet bag tools include

• Stethoscopes and stopwatches to count heartbeats
• Calculators to decide how much medicine to give a sick animal
• Bandages to wrap an "injury"
• Actual x-rays
• Other fun tools

Please note:

• Use of vet bags is free with Zoo admission.
• A photo I.D. of the group leader(s) is required to use vet bags.
• All vet bags are on loan, to be used in the Sarah Allison Steffee Center only.
• Vet bags can accommodate four children per bag.
• School groups must pre-register for this activity

For more information, contact the Conservation Education Division at (216) 635-3391.

This program is supported by the William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation, Inc.,
The Kenneth Scott Charitable Trust, a Key Bank Trust and the Rockwell Foundation.

Listed below are examples of the activities found within the vet bags. Identifying signs within the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine alert visitors to look in the bag for the accompanying activity card and tools. Please keep in mind that the activities are designed for use in a certain location within the exhibit and generally incorporate the use of exhibit graphics and interactives. The activity card text may not be completely clear when presented out of context.

Sometimes the Zoo decides to allow certain animals to become parents. Can you find the animal pictures in your medical bag? Look at the pictures on the cards. Some of the pictures are of grown-up animals (parents) and some are of baby animals. Can you match the animal parents with their babies?

Can you find an item in your medical bag that is used to give shots? (hint: pull out the drawers; look for the picture of an animal getting a shot). Can you give someone in your group a "shot" just like a veterinarian shown in the picture?

Find your stethoscope and stopwatch. Look in the middle, top drawer. The veterinarian in the picture is listening to the heartbeat of an animal called a jaguarundi. Can you listen to the heartbeat of someone in your group? How many heartbeats can you hear in one minute?

Find the Ace bandage in the bag. Look on the wall for the picture of a dog with a cast on his leg. Can you use the bandage to wrap someone's arm just like the dog's leg?

Look at the menu for the African elephant in the exhibit. Can you find the correct amount of food that the elephant eats & put it in a basket? What kind of food do you like to eat?

Sometimes an animal may become sick and die. Have you ever had a pet that died? Did you do anything special to say goodbye to your pet? Take a look at the pictures in the exhibit. What kind of memories do you have of your pet?

Find the x-ray in the bag. What is the problem? This animal has a broken limb. Have you ever had an x-ray? The x-ray helps the doctor see inside of your body. Then the doctor can help you feel better.

Look at the menu for the African elephant in the exhibit. Can you find the correct amount of food that the elephant eats & put it in a basket? Can you eat four apples a day?

Look at the map on the wall. This map shows the places where the Zoo has conservation projects. What kinds of projects does the Zoo have in Venezuela?