{"id":367048,"date":"2026-08-09T21:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T21:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/367048\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T21:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T21:22:10","slug":"zootampa-uses-acupuncture-to-treat-injured-zoo-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/367048\/","title":{"rendered":"ZooTampa uses acupuncture to treat injured zoo animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 ZooTampa at Lowry Park is using veterinary acupuncture alongside traditional care to help animals with injuries and chronic conditions.<\/p>\n

Dr. Alex Mason, a staff veterinarian certified in veterinary acupuncture, said the treatment can stimulate nerves, increase blood flow and support healing.<\/p>\n

A 14-year-old black-bellied whistling duck named Earl Gray received electroacupuncture after developing weakness in his right leg. Zoo staff reported improved coordination, strength and walking ability after three sessions.<\/p>\n

The therapy has also helped a roseate spoonbill chick recover from a leg injury and has shown mild improvement for Sloth, a manatee with a facial nerve injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is used alongside our traditional veterinary care and allows us to take a more comprehensive approach to supporting the animals\u2019 well-being,\u201d Mason said.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

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\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 ZooTampa at Lowry Park is using veterinary acupuncture alongside traditional care to help animals with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1684,19709,28,148820,148819,115,135,137,136,49982,1680],"class_list":["post-367048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-animals","tag-baby","tag-florida","tag-malayan-tapir","tag-malayan-tapir-calf","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-zoo","tag-zootampa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367048","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=367048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}