Care, Display and Salvation: (Zoo)Biopower and the zoo veterinarian

The zoo veterinarian is almost as rare as some of the animals they care for, and whilst not endangered they provide veterinary care for a diverse and often complicated collection of ‘exotic’ species. As such zoo vets have been characterized by legal and geography scholar Irus Braverman as “the last general practitioner” in veterinary medicine. Within Britain, despite a presence in the 19th century, zoo vets are actually a relatively young field in veterinary medicine only becoming institutionalised in the late 1940s following the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1948. Even now, to have a resident zoo vet is rare and they make up a small percentage of the UK veterinary surgeon profession. This chapter will apply an historicised lens to sociological analysis in exploring the evolution of the zoo veterinarian through the conceptualisations of (zoo)biopower with a focus on feeding and nutrition practices. How zoo veterinarians navigate the care, display, and salvation of zoo animals will be explored through interview data with zoo vets practising in Britain and Ireland today. The chapter will posit that zoo veterinarians work subconsciously within and through conceptualisations of (bio)power and discipline of zoo animals at both an individual and population level.