Auckland Zoo

New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine: 



Dr. Richard Jakob-Hoff is the Senior veterinarian at the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM) at Auckland Zoo.  He has a particular interest in parasites of any kind  and spending hours at the microscope is his idea of fun! He has a passion for  the conservation of New Zealand native fauna and had a major role in Auckland Zoo involvement with Archey’s frogs.  He is a DOC advisor on wildlife health and translocation protocols and enjoys bringing people together in collaborative teams.

Dr. Stephanie Shaw:  Resident in Conservation Medicine, with shared responsibility for the veterinary care of the Archey frog. Concurrent PhD student at James Cook University, Townsville, QLD.  Stephanie is a budding herpetologist as her past experience has been with mammals and birds. She is enjoying the major collaboration with James Cook University, University of Otago, and Auckland Zoo, although she suffers from an identity crisis at times as to which institution she belongs too!   Her PhD subject is Amphibian Disease in New Zealand Native Frogs.  Her principal supervisor is Prof Rick Speare of JCU and co-supervisors Dr. Lee Skerratt, Dr. Lee Berger – both from JCU, and Dr Phil Bishop form University of Otago. Some components of her PhD are: 1) Assessing national amphibian decline or growth using anecdotal data  2) Amphibian disease in Leiopelma and Litoria 3) National mapping of chytridiomycosis in NZ amphibians. 4) Surveying wild Leiopelma bacterial skin flora and challenging with chytrid to investigate the possible protective function of skin bacteria.  5) Evaluating and formalizing the current system of monitoring frog health and disease surveillance



Dr. John Potter - Associate Zoo Veterinarian, with the responsibility for the veterinary care of the Archey frogs since they first arrived in the Zoo in March 2005.  His recent article, Potter J.S. and R.J Norman, Veterinary Care of Captive Archey’s Frogs, Leioplema archeyi, at Auckland Zoo. Kokako 13 (2) 19-26, 2006, is a useful reference.