PREVIEW

Endoscopic examinations are a tough task for any vet - but imagine doing one on a big cat! To help vets at Cincinnati Zoo’s Linder Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) the German firm Vetiqo has built them a model leopard - with anatomy to practice reproductive examinations on. Marta is an Amur leopard simulator that is helping scientists at Cincinnati Zoo’s CREW train on transcervical endoscopic work. Her creators started out by taking a template from the body of a large dog and modelling it to resemble a female leopard. In order to adapt their canine model to a similar-sized feline, the Vetiqo team borrowed CT scans of Amur leopards to make key features (like head and feet) more accurate. After hours of digital sculpting, manual sculpting, sanding, and hand painting they created Marta - a one-of-a-kind piece. She has artificially created silicone reproductive tracts that allow hands-on training, instrument handling, and skill refinement before conducting endoscopic exams on anaesthetised animals. There are only slight variations in reproductive anatomy among big cat species, so those who learn with Marta can also put their skills into practice on some of her even more frightening live relatives!