It appears the BC Wildlife Park will get its paws on an x-ray machine before Christmas after all.

General Manager Glenn Grant says the $40,000 x-ray machine is currently being shipped to the Wildlife Park, and he notes he is grateful for the community support that helped them raise the money.

“The Shuswap Community Foundation donated $15,000. The car dealers got together, Interior Foundation donated some money, and we had a ton of help from the local community donating $20 here, $100 here, $50 – it adds up in a hurry,” he said on the NL Morning News.

Grant says when operational, the x-ray machine will help staff to diagnose the animals more quickly and accurately, while saving time and reducing the stress on the animals.

“When we built the health centre we made a special room within that for an x-ray machine, so it’s great that we’re finally getting the equipment to actually fill out the health centre to care for our animals properly.”

He says as it stands, staff have to sedate and move animals to a vet off-site.

“So that’s a lot of stress on the animal, it’s a lot of time for our staff, so having a machine in the park, we can diagnose stuff instantly,” Grant noted. “It makes life for the animals substantially better, in not sedating and transferring them to other facilities.”