The Zoo and Aquarium Radiology Database (ZARD) is a collaborative, online veterinary imaging resource that provides access to high-quality X-rays and CT scans from over 500 animal species. Based at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, the ZARD brings together diagnostic imaging from leading zoological institutions across the United States.
The ZARD is a centralized radiology database designed for veterinarians, researchers, and animal health professionals working with zoo, aquarium, wildlife, and aquatic species. By housing diagnostic images in one accessible platform, the ZARD helps clinicians compare anatomy across species and improve diagnostic accuracy for complex cases.
This shared resource supports:
Zoo and aquarium veterinary medicine
Wildlife health and conservation
Comparative anatomy and research
Diagnosing disease in non-domestic species can be challenging due to limited reference imaging. The ZARD addresses this gap by making peer-contributed diagnostic imaging available to professionals who care for animals under human care and in conservation settings.
The database enhances:
Early disease detection
Treatment planning
Cross-institutional collaboration
Training of students, interns, residents, and radiologists
Veterinary and allied animal health professionals, as well as students, teachers, and faculty, are welcome to explore the world of diagnostic imaging with us! Learn more about using the ZARD, register for an account, or access the database.
Diagnostic imaging for more than 500 species was primarily contributed by ZARD’s seven leadership partners:
Brookfield Zoo Chicago
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (MG-249218-OMS-21).
The Great Ape Heart Project is dedicated to advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease in great apes. By coordinating cardiac-related research and establishing standardized approaches to cardiovascular health, we aim to improve the quality of life and longevity of great apes. Through global collaboration among zoos, research institutions, and sanctuaries, we foster a unified community committed to sharing knowledge and enhancing veterinary care for great apes under human care.
The ZooMu Network is funded by an NSF Research Coordination Networks Grant (RCN) to build a lasting network of biological collections staff who are equipped to work between collection types, and will open broad new opportunities for biological collections research by linking living and preserved collections, databases, and professionals.
By providing otherwise difficult-to-access diagnostic references, ZARD supports evidence-based veterinary care that enhances zoo and aquarium animal wellbeing, strengthens global wildlife conservation, and advances veterinary and comparative medical research.
Andean condor
Attwater's greater prairie chicken
Australian wood duck
Bar-headed goose
Black-bellied whistling duck
Black-cheeked lovebird
Blue-and-yellow macaw
Blue-bellied roller
Blue-throated macaw
Chestnut-backed thrush
Coconut lorikeet
Collared finch-billed bulbul
Crested coua
Crested wood partridge
Curl-crested aracari
East African grey-crowned crane
Eastern crested guineafowl
Fairy bluebird
Golden pheasant
Green-winged macaw
Grey-capped emerald dove
Ground Abyssinian Hornbill
Guam kingfisher
Hamerkop
Humboldt penguin
Hyacinth macaw
Inca tern
Indian pygmy goose
Jambu fruit dove
Lady Ross' turaco
Little penguin
Long-tailed finch
Madagascar ibis
Magellanic penguin
Magpie shrike
Malagasy sacred ibis
Malayan great argus
Mariana fruit dove
Mindanao bleeding-heart dove
Northern helmeted currasow
Pale-headed rosella
Palm cockatoo
Pink-backed pelican
Pink-headed turtle dove
Pink-necked pigeon
Plum-headed parakeet
Princess parrot
Raggiana bird-of-paradise
Red and yellow barbet
Red bird-of-paradise
Red-crested pochard
Red-capped cardinal
Red-fronted macaw
Ring-necked dove
Roseate spoonbill
Sacred ibis
Saddle-billed stork
Sarus crane
Scarlet ibis
Scarlet macaw
Silver-beaked tanager
Snowy-headed robin chat
Southern ground hornbill
Spectacled owl
Spotted whistling duck
Stanley crane
Superb starling
Taveta golden weaver
Tawny frogmouth
Tawny owl
Trumpeter hornbill
Vietnam pheasant
Violet turaco
Von der Decken's hornbill
Wattled crane
West African black-crowned crane
White-faced whistling duck
White-headed buffalo weaver
White ibis
White-naped crane
Wrinkled hornbill
Yellow-vented bulbul
African bullfrog
African pancake tortoise
Aruba Island rattlesnake
Asian brown tortoise
Black tree monitor
Blanding's turtle
Burmese black tortoise
Caiman lizard
Cane toad
Chinese alligator
Chinese crocodile lizard
Chinese three-striped box turtle
Chuckwalla
Diamondback terrapin
Dusky gopher frog
Dwarf crocodile
Dyeing poison frog
East African black mud turtle
Eastern box turtle
Egyptian tortoise
European glass lizard
Fiji banded iguana
Florida cooter
Florida softshell turtle
Giant galliwasp
Grand Cayman blue iguana
Green crested basalisk
Green turtle
Gulf Coast toad
Home's hingeback tortoise
Houston toad
Indian roof turtle
Jamaican boa
Jamaican iguana
Kemp's Ridley turtle
Komodo dragon
Lichenose leaf-tailed gecko
Magnificent tree frog
Malaysian painted river terrapin
Mexican beaded lizard
Mexican lance-headed rattlesnake
Mossy tree frog
Nile softshelled turtle
Papuan olive python
Prehensile-tailed skink
Puerto Rican crested toad
Radiated tortoise
Rough-scaled plated lizard
Sambava tomato frog
San Esteban chuckwalla
Smoky jungle frog
South American bushmaster
Spiny-tailed monitor
Splash-backed poison frog
Spotted toad
Taylor's agama
Twist-necked turtle
Vietnamese pond turtle
Volcan Darwin giant tortoise
Western hognose snake
Yellow-footed tortoise
Yellow-margined box turtle
Aardvark
Addax
African lion
African painted dog
Amur leopard
Andean bear
Angolan colobus
Asian elephant
Asian small-clawed otter
Aye-aye
Barasingha
Bat-eared fox
Beluga whale
Bighorn sheep
Binturong
Black and rufous elephant shrew
Black-footed cat
Bonobo
Borrean orangutan
Brush-tailed rat-kangaroo
Buff-cheeked gibbon
Cape porcupine
Capybara
Caracal
Cheetah
Common vampire bat
Cotton-top tamarin
Domestic ferret
Egyptian fruit bat
European rabbit
Fennec fox
Fishing cat
Fossa
Giant anteater
Goeldi's monkey
Golden lion tamarin
Grant's zebra
Grevy's zebra
Guianan brown capuchin
Hamadryas baboon
Hoffmann's two-toed sloth
Key Largo wood rat
Kirk's dik-dik
Lar gibbon
Linne's two-toed sloth
Malayan flying fox
Matschie's tree kangaroo
Meerkat
Mexican wolf
Naked mole rat
Nine-banded armadillo
North American river otter
Ocelot
Pallas's cat
Polar bear
Prehensile-tailed porcupine
Prevost's squirrel
Przewalski's horse
Pygmy slow loris
Queensland koala
Red kangaroo
Red ruffed lemur
Red-necked wallaby
Red panda
Red-rumped agouti
Reticulated giraffe
Ring tailed lemur
Rock hyrax
Rodriguez flying fox
Royal antelope
Sand cat
Schmidt's spot nosed monkey
Screaming hairy armadillo
Serval
Short-beaked echidna
Six-banded armadillo
Skunk
Snow leopard
Southern tamandua
Southern three-banded armadillo
Squirrel monkey
Virginia opossum
Visayan warty pig
Warthog
Western grey kangaroo
Western lowland gorilla
White-bellied pangolin
White-cheeked gibbon
White-faced marmoset
