The new agreement means the Wildlife Hospital, which treats about 600 native birds and animals a year, can use AgResearch’s specialised CT scanner for animals five times a year free of charge.
The scanner is designed specifically to scan animals and is mostly used on sheep and deer.
Wildlife Hospital Trust manager Jordana Whyte said it had been working with another local provider for CT scans, which charged the hospital about $500 a scan "at quite a charitable discount".
The scanner was particularly important for species where little was known about their anatomy, she said.
"It can tell us things diagnostically that X-rays can’t."
It was unlikely the Wildlife Hospital would need to do more than five scans a year, but if more were required the scanner was available at a discounted rate.
Ms Whyte said AgResearch chief executive Sue Bidrose contacted her to offer use of the equipment.
In a promotional video for the collaboration, Dr Bidrose said she saw "a really good opportunity for a partnership".
She said she was aware of the work the Wildlife Hospital did and the scanner AgResearch operated "had a bit of spare capacity".
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Millions upon millions of dollars are poured into finding new ways to exploit farmed animals for human profit and yet New Zealand's greatest asset, it's wildlife has to rely on charity. Agriculture has stripped away over 40% of NZ's natural ecosystems, polluted it's waterways, created ocean dead zones and then they expect a medal or something for lending out a machine for a maximum of 5 times a year. Same old story - Profit before Nature!
Government should fully fund the wildlife hospital, the remaining natural environments protected at all costs with injured and endangered native animals given priorities at all times above farming and recreation activities.
96% of all animals on this planet's land are either humans or livestock. Only 4% remain wild!!!