Kiowa, a red-tailed hawk from the Hunte Amphitheater at the San Diego Zoo, has been one of the recent patients as the Zoo's hospital. A few weeks ago, Kiowa arrived at the hospital after fracturing his left leg. The veterinarians on duty performed surgery, setting the leg bones and placing a fixator to keep it from moving. A fixator is an apparatus where two firm bars are placed on either side of the leg, and then pins go from one bar to the other through the leg. This stabilizes the leg, allowing it to heal properly while giving it strength.

Needless to say, a fractured leg in a bird of prey can be very difficult not only physically but also behaviorally. Hawks hold their food in their talons and then rip pieces off it to eat. This is a hard thing to accomplish with just one foot. Kiowa was having a tricky time trying to balance on the fractured leg, hold his food in his good foot, and eat.

As hospital keepers, one of our jobs is to make the healing process as painless as possible. To make things easier for Kiowa, we cut up his mice into bite-sized pieces and fed them to him with very long forceps. At first, Kiowa was not thrilled about this and seemed depressed. He was probably in some pain as well. But with keeper persistence and some pain medication, he started to respond. We learned that if we gave Kiowa a piece of mouse he could hold with his good foot, we could quickly feed him the rest of his meal. Once his belly was mostly full, he could calmly balance himself by holding his wings out (as if he was hiding his food, which most birds of prey do while eating anyway) and slowly eat the last piece of food he was holding onto.

Kiowa's most recent exam shows that his leg is healing. The keepers have definitely noticed a big difference in his behavior that lets us know he is feeling better. He is sunning himself, moving around more, and even flying in his pen. And when it's feeding time, Kiowa is at the door, ready for his food and medication.

It's always hard when an animal arrives ill or with injuries to the hospital, but it's great when we see how well they are recovering and finally that day when they leave us. We do like to get to know the animals, but we'd rather not see them again. We are looking forward to the day Kiowa leaves and is able to fly in Hunte Amphitheater once more!

Yvette Kemp is a senior hospital keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Watch video of Kiowa during a show at Hunte Amphitheater.

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