The Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, Wisc., has promoted Christy Rettenmund to senior staff veterinarian. She previously held the role of the Zoo’s staff veterinarian for more than four years.
As Senior Staff Veterinarian, Rettenmund will oversee the Zoo’s Animal Health Center staff and expenditures and will provide veterinary oversight for the Zoo’s robust population of more than 2,100 animals, which includes not only veterinary care but nutrition, animal transfers, enrichment, and training. She will also provide mentorship for veterinary student externs and oversee a collaborative veterinary residency program with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and the International Crane Foundation. Of the residents she has mentored at the Milwaukee County Zoo, all have become American College of Zoological Medicine board-certified, with professional careers at zoos and universities across the country.
During her time at the Milwaukee County Zoo, Rettenmund participated in Baird’s tapir research in Belize to monitor the movement patterns of wild tapirs and collect samples for health assessment. She also acquired an American Association of Zoo Veterinarians Wild Animal Health Fund grant, in conjunction with a previous Milwaukee County Zoo zoological medicine resident, to evaluate serum copper levels and their association with dietary factors in Baird’s tapirs living in human care.
Before coming to Milwaukee, Rettenmund worked as an associate veterinarian at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Md., from 2015 to 2018, where she worked with a population of more than 1,500 animals, representing nearly 200 species. Before her work in Maryland, Rettenmund completed a three-year zoological medicine residency at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York.
Rettenmund received her doctorate of veterinary medicine in 2008 from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. She became a diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine in 2015 and has published over 15 peer-reviewed publications.
Photo Credit: © Milwaukee County Zoo
Edited by Sarah Gilsoul, a writer and communications program assistant at AZA.
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