PETRA is putting the final touches on the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Health Lab project, receiving the certificate of occupancy on November 30th. The Health Lab includes a necropsy facility, ventilation systems, a wet laboratory and genetics laboratory. The animal intake and holding area has a large 25 foot by 10 foot walk-in cooler/freezer with 4 inch thick stainless steel insulated panel walls that stand 16 feet tall. The intake area has 58 feet of overhead trolley track system with 1 ton and 1/2 ton hooks and pulleys opening to the outside for easy access to intake large mammals.

The new laboratory will be used to detect disease in free-ranging wildlife. The Wildlife Health Laboratory, within the Wildlife Bureau, is the primary group that deals with wildlife disease in the state which can affect individual animals, groups of animals or whole populations of animals. Knowledge about disease in wildlife in important for the management of populations, especially those diseases that can have significant negative impacts. More information can be found on the Idaho Fish and Game Website.