Zoo Logic

As a long time marine mammal trainer and educator, Madelynn Hettiger is the current Board President for the International Marine Animal Trainers' Association (www.IMATA.org). She discusses the ways in which the organization works behind the scenes to assist trainers with networking, career development, and when necessary, during challenging times like COVID, employment interruptions from severe storms and more. Her goal is to increase collaborations among training professionals and trade groups, improve animal welfare through modern training principles, and to increase transparency in all facets of the organization.

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Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski is the founder and director of the Dolphin Communications Project and has been studying dolphin behavior and communication since 1990, with a focus on tactile, behavioral and acoustic signals employed by dolphins as they share information with each other and across groups. Her husband John Anderson is a veteran documentary filmmaker with nearly 40 years focused on the coastal and offshore marine environment, with 25 years dedicated to conducting marine-related film and video productions. Together, this duo conduct and document small cetacean research and promote conservation efforts with the help of student participants as part of a citizen scientist eco-tourism model.

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On this our 400th episode of Zoo Logic, we are joined by Chris Dold, DVM, chief zoological officer for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. While many are familiar with his veterinary career with the US Navy marine mammal program and later SeaWorld of Florida, Chris began his career as a trainer for Dolphin Quest. He discusses his role moving up the ranks to eventually lead the zoological program for one of the largest collections in the world. In addition, as the current board chair for the Association of Zoo and Aquariums he describes some of the opportunities for the greater zoo and aquarium community in areas such as increasing regional and global collaborations, addressing the well being of care givers, aligning animal care standards across regions, and the continued relevance of modern zoological parks.

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Taryn Gillson, Global Humane Society's regional director for Africa returns to discuss conservation efforts supported by their relatively new conservation fund of Africa. In one effort, students in Uganda are trained to become wildlife rangers in order to combat rampant poaching through snares and to provide sustainable occupations and incomes. Taryn also describes the extraordinary journey of one re-wild cheetah at Nyosi wildlife reserve who despite the odds and injury successfully reared four cubs.

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Children's author Christine Devane returns with her latest book, Lola and Sophie's ABC Adventure. She discusses the importance of reading to young children daily to instill the habit of reading early in their lives. Christine also discusses the importance of pet adoption like the real life characters in her book and gives potential authors some helpful advice on how to get started on the path to becoming a published author.

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Previous Zoo Logic podcast guests, Drs. Bruck, Jaakkola, and Hill conduct original research with cetaceans and each has an extensive scientific publication record. They also have significant experience as journal reviewers. A recent "review" paper was published despite our panel of experts best attempts to adhere to sound scientific norms and the peer review process. After many many hours of analysis of the manuscript and its citations, they urged journal editors to reject publication through their exhaustive written reviews, which are publicly available. The paper's authors, led by a long time critic of marine mammals in human care, held a webinar accusing the zoological industry of trying to censor this publication. Our panel shares their public criticisms of the paper, and the journal that elected to ignore their major concerns, and what such publications do to the process of conducting and communicating science.

The paper and the complete reviews can be found here.

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Dr. Jonny Hanson's recent book, Living with Lynx: Sharing Landscapes with Big Cats, Wolves, and Bears, examines the contentious topic of reintroducing large carnivores to the islands of Britain and Ireland. Dr. Hanson's work explores conservation of apex predators and our relationship with these animals through the lens of social science, psychology, and history. In addition, he draws upon his experiences working with snow leopard conservationists in Nepal and around the globe. His new documentary, Snow Leopard Trail, is available at film festivals now.

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Key figures behind the Whale Sanctuary Project and other Canadian anti-zoo groups held an online meeting with about 500 attendees including our guest, Dr. Jason Bruck, to discuss the situation concerning 30 beluga whales living in limbo at the troubled Marineland of Canada facility. We discuss the group's plans to build in Nova Scotia and the gaps in their science, funding, and other arguments.

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Author Leokadia George has released her 4th children's book published by Briley and Baxter based on the real life endangered Mexican Gray Wolf named Trumpet. This special wolf lives at the Wolf Conservation Center in New York where George has volunteered for nearly a decade helping to care for this subspecies as well as red wolves. The WCC raises endangered pups that are often cross-fostered with wild wolves as part of the species recovery plan.

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Longtime zoo professional Alan Toyne has a new book describing his many years working with lowland gorillas at Bristol zoo, including two experiences hand-rearing baby gorillas. Gorillas in Our Midst: A zookeeper's tale of hand-rearing baby gorillas published by Summersdale centers on the lives of extraordinary characters like a female gorilla named Kera, a lone hand-reared female that never knew how to be an adult gorilla herself. When Kera had to deliver by C-section, she failed to bond with her infant Afia. That's when Alan and his fellow keepers stepped in and provided around the clock care for her until such time as another female stepped up to raise Afia as her own. Years later, when another infant, Hasani, needed a surrogate, Alan and the team made the bold decision to train Kera for the job. Could the once ostracized gorilla that rejected her first infant learn to nurture another?

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