Skittles the African penguin
An African penguin can see normally today thanks to the ingenuity of the Minnesota Zoo’s staff, donations from people like you, and a horse named Frank.
Skittles was suffering deep corneal ulceration and subsequent infection that was causing the cornea in one eye to start breaking down. To recover, she required plasma, a fluid collected after blood has clotted that’s filled with anti-inflammatory proteins that stabilize an injury.
Unfortunately, penguin blood doesn’t contain a high concentration of these proteins, and it would be unsafe to draw the amount of blood needed from penguin donors to treat Skittles’ eye effectively.
Thanks to your support and the ingenuity of the animal health and care teams, Skittles’ story doesn’t end there. Instead, the animal health and care staff recruited help from an unlikely fellow Zoo resident: Frank the Clydesdale, whose blood is rich in healing proteins.
Frank stood in his stall for a voluntary blood draw, where he allowed animal health staff to draw 20 milliliters (just over half an ounce) of blood. The massive horse didn't require any downtime or treatment post-donation and could go about his day.
Animal health and care staff then used the serum from Frank’s blood to treat Skittles’ eye—and it was wildly successful. This was the first reported time that horse blood was used to treat a bird species. Today, Skittles’ cornea has healed, her infection is cleared, and she has no vision loss!
Today, Skittles is in good health and is back on habitat with the other African penguins. Donors like you make amazing things like this possible every day at the Minnesota Zoo. Thank you!
We would be honored to discuss your options for creating an enduring legacy of helping the Minnesota Zoo develop innovative medical treatments for animals. Contact Amalie Frankel to discuss your options.