{"id":364822,"date":"2026-08-07T00:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T00:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364822\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T00:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T00:38:14","slug":"a-florida-zoo-is-using-acupuncture-on-animals-what-it-looks-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364822\/","title":{"rendered":"A Florida zoo is using acupuncture on animals | What it looks like"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Florida zoo is using acupuncture on animals | This is what it looks like<\/p>\n

Earl Grey is a 14-year-old black-bellied whistling duck that suddenly developed weakness in his right leg.<\/p>\n

Earl is at ZooTampa at Lowry Park<\/a>, which is incorporating veterinary acupuncture into treatment plans for animals with complex medical conditions. <\/p>\n

The effort is led by staff veterinarian Dr. Alex Mason, who is certified in veterinary acupuncture. <\/p>\n

While the practice is well known in human and pet medicine, ZooTampa is applying it to a wide range of wildlife species as a complementary therapy alongside traditional veterinary care. <\/p>\n

\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n

After three electroacupuncture treatments combined with fluids, vitamins and pain management, veterinarians observed improvements in Earl’s strength, coordination and ability to walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came up here, acutely presented with the inability to use his leg, just profound weakness,” Dr. Mason said. “And after two sessions of acupuncture was back up and walking. Still had some deficits in that leg but much improved from when he presented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Mason said that being able to utilize the treatment is a first for the zoo, but it has proven to be a welcomed practice. She said that it has allowed for a new approach to care in cases where they had previously exhausted other options. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn zoo medicine, we have animals that live a very long time. So whenever we\u2019re dealing with conditions of advanced age or osteoarthritis it can be a really helpful adjunct therapy for managing discomfort that comes with that,\u201d Dr. Mason said. <\/p>\n

Sloth the Manattee<\/p>\n

The same therapy used for Earl Grey was also given to a manatee named Sloth. <\/p>\n

Sloth came to ZooTampa with significant nerve damage along one side of his face, stopping that side’s use of the nostril and eye. Dr. Mason said through examining Sloth’s injuries that they suspect he was struck by a boat. <\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Sloth the manatee receiving acupuncture treatment at ZooTampa (Photo Courtesy: ZooTampa)<\/p>\n

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After applying the treatments, Dr. Mason said Sloth showed significant improvement in moving his one open nostril and one open eye.<\/p>\n

Roseate spoonbill chick <\/p>\n

A roseate spoonbill chick recovering from a leg injury also regained normal limb function after receiving electroacupuncture in addition to medication and physical therapy. <\/p>\n

The zoo is also treating Sloth, a rescued manatee with chronic nerve damage that affects one side of his face.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n

“At ZooTampa, each animal receives individualized care, and acupuncture gives us another way to support patients when traditional treatment options may be limited,” Mason said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida zoo is using acupuncture on animals | This is what it looks like Earl Grey is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[89135,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-364822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-fields","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}