Assiniboine Park Zoo animals will get an ambulance. They will be transported in case of a problem while routine medical procedures will be performed in the ambulance itself. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service donated a used ambulance to the zoo as part of EMS week.

It will make it possible to help animals around the zoo by delivering medicines and to give oxygen in an emergency apart from helping in transporting sick and injured animals.

Veterinarians were earlier using cargo vans for providing care to animals but it was proving very difficult due the large size of some animals.

Gordon Glover, the zoo's co-ordinator explained that earlier animals had to be taken to the hospital even for very minor procedures. He felt that the ambulance will really prove helpful for the animals. It will also offer oxygen tanks and intravenous gear facilities for the animals.

They also aim to add a vaporizer for gas anesthetic that will allow zoo vets a mobile examination and surgical suite in the coming days.

This idea came to zookeeper Shelly Brown while attending a conference in Seattle when she saw an ambulance being used in a zoo. It is also felt that the expenses to make the ambulance ready for the zoo will be very less. The service will start from the month of June.