Zoo Logic

Long time zoological statistician and animal manager, Kevin Willis, returns to discuss dolphin demographics and other mathematical insights into current species populations in human care. The overall population of dolphins in facilities looks promising, but Kevin warns this view is not reality since the animals are not actually maintained as one but several small islands of sub-populations that are not at all sustainable as currently managed. He also argues that zoos and aquariums are in the midst of change from the Noah's Ark conservation model of the 1980s and its SSP's (Species Survival Plans) designed to one day re-populate wild habitats, once humans get their act together, to something as yet still evolving. In fact, the number of managed species has been greatly reduced and the word conservation no longer appears in the description of SSP's on the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) website. When asked what the math tells him about the future of species and genetic diversity of both plants and animals in zoos and aquariums and the wild, he shares that we as a community have some tough choices ahead about what species can and should be prioritized for preservation.

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The team from GRAZE (Growing Resiliency for Aquarium and Zoo Employees) Erin McNally and Hannah Fullmer return to discuss a widespread problem in most fields, including the zoological profession. While not unique to animal facilities, bullying takes a tremendous toll on an already beleaguered workforce. If social media content is to be believed, younger professionals seem increasingly disillusioned while senior staff are leaving the field from burnout. Erin and Hannah describe ways to think about and address bullying, as well as, urge individuals to develop coping strategies to improve workplace culture and not to run from the issues. It's a difficult but necessary conversation for individuals and organizations to have in order to build trust and retain experienced staff within an organization.

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Long time animal trainer and consultant, Jade Fountain from Animal Behavior Matters returns to discuss her latest work in East Africa with a global organization called APOPO (Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling", or in English, Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development. For the past 25 years, APOPO has been utilizing African Pouched Rats trained for scent detection to locate landmines in war torn countries such as Cambodia. As a result of their work and the astonishing olfactory abilities of these rats, hundreds of thousands of square meters of land have been rendered safe for people to return to farm and to build new lives. More than 160,000 landmines have been detected and destroyed. Remarkably, no rat has ever perished from mine detection work. Jade describes the training of these special animals and their unique characteristics that make them ideal for use in mine detection, but also wildlife trafficking and identifying positive tuberculosis samples. She also shares some of her doctoral work and how she hopes to validate anecdotal evidence that scent work in dogs has physiological and behavioral benefits.

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Dr. Jay Sweeney, cofounder of Dolphin Quest, returns to discuss the latest strain of avian flu making its way across the globe with lethal effects. It was an avian flu strain that caused the global pandemic in 1918 that killed tens of millions of humans. The current strain H5N5 seems to be mild in infected dairy cows and humans but it has caused thousands of pinniped and a handful of dolphin deaths over the past few seasons as migratory birds move up and down coastlines of North and South America. The strain has already impacted millions of birds on poultry farms and Dr. Sweeney urges zoological facilities to remain vigilant to protect heir avian and marine mammal collections.

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Dr. Terrie Williams, long time UC Santa Cruz wildlife researcher interested in species energetics returns to discuss the race against geometric levels of extinction. We are losing species at pace well above the normal background rates. Her mission is to gather basic bioenergetic data to help inform regulators, lawmakers, and industry about the potential harmful effects from undersea noise pollution, climate change, over fishing, and more. Importantly, she celebrates the role of today's modern zoos and aquariums and the training professionals that make her data collection possible in situ and ex situ.

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Following a recent industry webinar, we asked ethicist, Dr. Raymond Anthony and veterinarian and researcher, Dr. Dave Miller to weigh in on the subject of using hormone therapy to curb aggressive behavior in managed settings. Under what conditions and to what extent is modifying animal behavior through pharmacology, specifically hormones or their synthetic analogs, an acceptable practice? Is there an ethical difference between acute and chronic use, especially when the drug in question is used "off label" or may not have been studied in the species for which its use is intended? Importantly, what sort of ethical framework should facilities employ before this approach to managing animal behavior, social well-being, reproduction or long term contraception is utilized?

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Before she accepted the role of executive director of the Zoological Association of America in 2023, Dr. Kelly George was a researcher with Ohio State University studying human-animal relationships with an emphasis on welfare and behavior. Today she leads the young but growing trade association focused on improving standards of husbandry care, educating the public, and promoting greater conservation efforts for species in human care and in the wild. She describes her first year, where the association is now, where she thinks it is headed, and why it is important for the organization to tell its own narrative.

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As director of research for the Dolphin Research Center, Dr. Kelly Jaakkola spends much of her time studying the cognitive abilities of bottlenose dolphins, as well as, refuting the false or unsubstantiated narratives stemming from all places, recent peer-reviewed publications by authors opposed to marine mammals in human care. One of two of her recent publications examines whether these small cetaceans in human care live in "impoverished" environments. Spoiler alert, they don't. However, Kelly argues in a separate paper that this low bar of animal welfare can and should be raised to include beneficial cognitive challenges that enable animals in zoological facilities, not just dolphins, to thrive when we humans have met most of their physical needs.

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Before she became an expert avian trainer with Natural Encounters, Ari Bailey got her start working with crocodilian species at a time when aversives and physical restraint were still commonly in use. Fortunately, the state of animal training for crocodilians and other ectothermic species has since advanced; in many ways, the same sort of husbandry behaviors commonly seen with mammals and birds can also be seen with reptiles at modern zoological facilities. However, while the principles of operant conditioning used with crocs are the same as with other species, their unique physiology and natural history does influence how modern behavioral science methods are applied. Ari discusses these and other details from training material she's written for professional coursework on crocodilians.

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The post Civil War era gave rise to unprecedented social changes. The energy and activism directed at ending the scourge of slavery found new life in improving the welfare of animals, particularly those species in American homes, industry, entertainment, and on the dinner plate. Authors, Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, DVM have written their second book together (Knopf, 4/23) examining the extraordinary animal welfare movement that emerged during the latter third of the 19th century. Readers of Our Kindred Creatures are "introduced to the activists, scientists, and moguls who helped create our modern views on animals, with our intense compassion for certain species and ignorant disregard for others." Not surprisingly, this same movement was intertwined with the public's burgeoning interest in conservation as rampant species and habitat loss was unfolding.

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