Early fall in Minnesota should be fairly cool and full of colorful leaves on the trees. Well, not this year. It was still in the 90’s and humid but that didn’t discourage a trip to The Raptor Center at The College of Veterinary Medicine on The University of Minnesota campus.

Dr. Julie Ponder , the Executive Director for The Raptor Center provided a personal tour of the facilities and the residents which included the indoor and outdoor aviaries for the birds of prey used for education, the surgery room, a sample of the educational programs provided to students and the public, the honor of meeting the faculty and staff, and last but not least, the opportunity to meet each of the educational raptors up close and personal.

During her visit at The Raptor Center, Dr. Orosz had the opportunity to present two lectures. One lecture was presented to veterinary students on the importance in avian nutrition. The second lecture was given to the faculty and veterinary residents of avian medicine on critical care diets needed for raptors for more stringent, medical care.

While at the facilities, Dr. Orosz had the opportunity to sit with Dr. Pat Redig, cofounder of The Raptor Center and professor at The College of Veterinary Medicine, and discuss their future plans of writing text on avian orthopedics.

The Raptor Center is an internationally known facility which focuses on the health and care for raptors and their environment. The facility is open to the public and provides numerous educational programs. The facility is very well known for providing international avian medicine, surgery, research, conservation and rehabilitation. Their facility strives to perfect techniques in avian medicine and surgery and provide the highest quality of care for these magnificent birds including rehabilitation and physical therapy for release back to the wild.