Tilapia skin, blood transfusions, and CT scans: veterinary hospital offers 'luxury treatment' for wild animals in the Federal District

Located in Taguatinga , it is the first and only hospital in Brazil specialized in caring for wild animals.

Despite a list of exotic patients, HFAUS has become a reference for offering " traditional human treatments " to animals.

Biologist Thiago Marques, responsible for the unit, cites as examples a blood transfusion received by a maned wolf being treated and a vulture that treated a wound on its wing with the application of tilapia skin .

See more details of the treatments below.

• 🔎 Tilapia skin treatment: The skin is used as a biological dressing to treat burns and wounds . Rich in collagen, it promotes accelerated healing, reduces pain, reduces dressing changes, and has a low risk of infection.

One of the vultures treated by the hospital has had the technique applied to its wing , which has a serious injury ( see photo above ).

Another technique widely used in animals treated at HFAUS is blood transfusion . The procedure is performed to treat anemia and bleeding, and to replace essential components.

In the unit, a maned wolf that was rescued after being captured by hunters in a trap , underwent the procedure inside the unit ( see above ).

Rescued in serious condition, the animal is currently in stable condition and is close to being discharged.

Another technique widely used by humans and which is also used in HFAUS is resin reconstruction .

The material is used by dentists to reconstruct teeth, but in the unit it has a new use: to rebuild turtle shells ( see photo above ).

Animals whose shells have been broken after being run over or due to human abuse receive a temporary one made of dental resin. This piece protects the turtle until its natural shell grows back.

"They stay here until they are ready to return to the wild. If this happens before the shell has fully regenerated, we paint the resin in shades similar to its natural color so that the animal doesn't attract too much attention in its natural habitat. After the shell grows, the resin one falls off," says Thiago Marques, head of HFAUS.

HFAUS also has a state-of-the-art hospital unit and a surgical center where animals undergo modern medical procedures.

There, animals have the possibility of undergoing CT scans , ultrasounds , x-rays and other various medical procedures that are capable of providing a detailed diagnosis so that the most appropriate treatment can be implemented for that animal.

Thiago Marques says the idea for HFAUS arose from the need for a place specialized in caring for wild animals.

The unit was opened in 2024 and has already received more than 2,400 animals for care .

"Brasília didn't have a place to receive these animals, which are very typical of the Cerrado. Most of the time, this care was provided by the zoo or universities on a voluntary basis, but that's not ideal," says Marques.

The animals arrive at the unit through agencies like Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Natural Resources) or the Military Environmental Police, which rescue them. At HFAUS, they undergo treatment until they recover and are ready to return to the wild.

Two capybara calves that were run over in Lago Sul at the beginning of July passed through there in July – an accident that killed 12 adult animals of the species.