People: Robyn Barbiers

WILD ANIMAL HOUSE

In all of North America, there are some 200 wildlife veterinarians, and fewer than half work in zoos. One of them is Robyn Barbiers, '78, DVM '82, director of veterinary medicine for Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, the nation's oldest and most popular. 'I love it here,' Barbiers says. 'There's always a new challenge. You learn something new every day.'

One recent challenge was to cure 'a very sick two-year-old Gorilla called Tabibu ('doctor' in Swahili).' Robyn finally took the animal to a hospital for diagnostics, some CAT scans, and ultimately colon surgery. 'She was on the ventilator for four days,' recalls Robyn. 'I stayed one week in the hospital, at times holding her hands and looking into her eyes. Needless to say, it was stressful. But finally she got better.' Other challenges include surgery on a giraffe, which took place right in the stall. 'Animals are amazing, they're really intelligent,' she observes, noting that it's very difficult to fool elephants by putting medicine in apples and other foods. 'They can read my body language and usually toss it right back at me.'

A native of Kalamazoo, Barbiers solidified her interest in animals early on, transferring to MSU from Hope College in her junior year. After working in an Ohio emergency medicine clinic, she took a pay cut to work at the Detroit Zoo, Royal Oak, where she stayed seven years. Four years ago, she moved to Lincoln Park, one of the few remaining free zoos. Some three million visitors a year come to see about 1,200 animals--including 5 Siberian tigers, 3 black rhinoceroses, 2 polar bears, and an Orangutan that she took to the hospital four hours after birth. 'It's our responsibility to help preserve animals,' declares Robyn. 'This is my small part.'