Exotic Vetting

What Treating Wild Animals Teaches You About Their Lives

By: Romain Pizzi

Narrated by: Patrick Doherty

Anaesthetising a fish, x-raying a frog and hospitalising a walrus are all in a day’s work for the world’s wildest veterinarian.

Travelling from the rainforests of Sierra Leone to the jungles of Borneo, Romain Pizzi has caught, anaesthetised, diagnosed, operated on, medicated, and then released some of the world's most endangered wild animals.

From disease testing Polynesian snails to keyhole surgery in Sumatran orangutans; from endoscopy in sharks to ultrasound on a chimpanzee. Sometimes this is high tech work, such as the first robotic surgery in a tiger, or giant panda cloning attempts. Sometimes the situations are more primitive, from anaesthetising a bear with a bicycle pump, old plumbing tubes and a plank, to operating on a vulture using an old metal spoon.

In Exotic Vetting, Romain recalls his many interesting patients, while taking readers on a tour of the challenges of treating the world’s amazing spectrum of wild animal species.

Critic reviews

‘A highly entertaining and thought-provoking tour de force. Thoroughly recommended.’ Veterinary Record

‘Romain Pizzi, who pioneered keyhole surgery for
animals, is arguably the most versatile and inventive
vet in the world.’ Guardian

‘We have other vets who are incredibly talented, but
Romain is one of a kind.’ Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears

One of the most innovative wildlife surgeons in Europe and perhaps the world … he has operated on giraffes and tarantulas, penguins and baboons, giant tortoises and at least one shark, and maintains a reputation for taking on cases others won't. If you're in possession of a tiger with gallstones, or a suspiciously sickly beaver, you call Pizzi.’ Wired magazine