The Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa has opened its new 7,000-square-foot veterinary hospital with its first patient, a wild Florida panther which suffered gunshot wounds to the face and hind quarters.
The Tampa Tribune reports that veterinarians recently moved into the 7,000-square-foot facility. The hospital will treat more than 1,000 animals at the zoo in addition to serving as a resource for state and federal wildlife professionals.
The approximately 2-year-old male panther, named Uno, isn't the first panther to receive care at the zoo, but the first at the new facility.
He was rescued in mid-October by biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which received a call from someone who noticed him crossing a road. Uno will not be returned to the wild.
