UK super vet saves animals from all over the world - from a leopard to penguin

EXCLUSIVE: UK super vet saves animals from all over the world - from a leopard to penguinA vet in Doncaster has been helping conservation all around the world by scanning a leopard, baboon, penguin and a cloudrat.NewsLucy Thornton News Reporter13:15, 16 Apr 2026Updated 13:18, 16 Apr 2026View 7 ImagesThis cloudrat made a full recovery after the scan revealed an infected uterusA super vet has a bizarre client list at his Doncaster practice, which includes a leopard, baboon, lion, polar bear, penguin and a cloudrat.‌But Mark Straw, who runs Beechwood Veterinary Hospital, wouldn't have it any other way as he has been helping conservation all around the world by scanning endangered animals for free. He started off by offering his half a million pound scanner to Yorkshire Wildlife Park a decade ago and now helps centres round the country.‌He told The Mirror how he helped discover a Sea turtle was full of eggs so she was moved to a centre with a beach, so she could lay them and found out a cloud rat had an infected uterus and needed a hysterectomy helping it make a full recovery.‌View 7 ImagesA cloudrat in the scanner before a diagnosis led to a full recoveryREAD MORE: BBC doctor tells all over-35s to buy £20 tester after Eamonn Holmes strokeREAD MORE: BBC viewers have just weeks to watch 'outstanding' crime drama with Tom HardyBut he said it was the little penguin which caused the most giggles. “I think the thing that amused us about the penguin was the length of time the smell stayed in the building,” he said.“Because if you imagine a really rotten fish market, that's what penguins smell like. It took a couple of days to air the room.”‌“There is rarely a dull moment and when I first graduated, I never expected to be X-raying lions or trying to keep a sea turtle calm while we scanned it,” says Mark, who is part of Yorkshire Wildlife park’s ethics committee.View 7 ImagesStaff were warned to watch their fingers with this sea turtle“Because we are contrib...