Lisa Shelley Argilla MNZM is a South African–New Zealand wildlife veterinarian who leads a wildlife hospital in Dunedin. Argilla is director of the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital. In 2021 Argilla was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to animal welfare and conservation.
Lisa Argilla | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Argilla in 2021 | |
| Awards | Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Massey University |
| Academic advisors | Laryssa Howe, Brett Gartrell |
Early life and education
editArgilla was born in South Africa, and grew up in Durban; she always wanted to be a bird veterinarian.[1][2] She failed to get a place to study veterinary medicine at the University of Pretoria, so took a degree in animal and wildlife science.[1] She then worked as a zookeeper at a bird park in Durban, before the family emigrated to Australia in 2001.[1] Later moving to New Zealand, Argilla successfully applied to study veterinary medicine at Massey University.[1] Argilla volunteered at wildlife rehabilitation centre Wildbase during her studies, and then returned to Australia to work in private practice.[1] Returning once again to New Zealand, Argilla completed a Master of Veterinary Science degree at Massey University in 2015. Her thesis was titled An investigation of the causes of mortality in yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) across their range with specific emphasis on the role played by Leucocytozoon.[3]
Career
editArgilla was manager of Wellington Zoo's veterinary hospital for five years, where she treated an emperor penguin that became known as Happy Feet.[1][4] Argilla treated penguins that had been flown up from the South Island, but found she was often euthanising birds for injuries that if treated earlier would have been survivable.[1] In 2016 she began running pop-up clinics in Dunedin in collaboration with the Veterinary Nursing School at Otago Polytechnic, and in 2018, opened the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital.[1][4] The hospital often treats and hand rears kākāpo, and partners with AgResearch to access equipment such as CAT scanners for diagnosis.[5] In 2022, the hospital achieved a world first in successfully incubating and hatching eggs from the endangered yellow-eyed penguin, the hoiho.[6]
Argilla is president of the New Zealand Veterinary Association’s Wildlife Society.[2]
Honours and awards
editIn the 2021 New Year's Honours, Argilla was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to animal welfare and conservation.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Munro, Bruce (22 January 2018). "Call of the wild". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ a b "On the side of wildlife: veterinarian Lisa Argilla". Jacqui Gibson | writer. 1 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ Argilla, Lisa Shelley (2015). An investigation of the causes of mortality in yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) across their range with specific emphasis on the role played by Leucocytozoon (Master of Veterinary Science thesis). Massey Research Online. hdl:10179/8301.
- ^ a b "Our Team". The Wildlife Hospital. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ Dodoland (15 September 2023). "A Glimpse into Dunedin Wildlife Hospital". EUGY. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "World first at Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, hatching Hoiho". RNZ. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
- ^ "New Year Honours 2021 – Citations for Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC)". www.dpmc.govt.nz. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
External links
edit- Image gallery of Lisa Argilla, via Radio New Zealand Nine to Noon