The Zoo's 17,000-square-foot Endangered Species Research Center & Veterinary Hospital complex hosts a central treatment area, research laboratories, an animal quarantine wing, and administrative space.

In the center of the building is a spacious treatment room that can handle all Zoo animals except elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes; a radiology suite with state-of-the-art equipment; a surgery suite with scrub room, sterile prep room and laundry; and a pharmacy.

Six laboratories are equipped for projects such as embryo transfer, animal behavior, in vitro fertilization, radio telemetry, semen analysis and nutrition studies. The labs are also used for hematology, parasitology, bacteriology, histopathology and nutrition studies.

A clinical pathology laboratory allows for careful study of diseases. Blood work, cultures for bacteria, fecal analysis and urinalysis are performed for every animal in the collection on a routine basis. A necropsy room is used for postmortems. A tissue bank includes an ultra low freezer (70° below zero) for storage of tissue or serum samples which are available to researchers from around the world.

A wing for the quarantine of a variety of animals houses sick or incoming animals. All incoming animals are quarantined for 30 days and tested to make sure they are free from viruses, parasites or other diseases that could be transmitted to the other animals.

The Zoo's veterinary staff continues to make "house calls" to any animals which can be treated more comfortably where they are housed.