Zoo Logic

In 2014, the training community lost a well-known veterinarian and behavioral consultant, lecturer, author and colleague to suicide. Many were surprised by the loss of someone so successful at her craft and popular among her clients and fans to learn about the high rate of suicide among veterinary professionals. A recent report posted at AAHA.org found "U.S. veterinarians at greater risk for mental illness, suicidal thoughts, and depressive episodes than the general population." Jenifer Chatfield, DVM, DACZM and Christine Royal, DVM discuss the veterinary community and companies such as Merck Animal Health's endeavors to assess the mental wellness of veterinary professionals, as well as, to provide online support tools to those in need.

Sounds Wild: Reindeer. Thanks to www.conservationambassadors.org.

For mental wellness support tools for veterinary professionals visit:

www.VetWellbeing.com

www.AVMA.org

https://www.aaha.org/professional/resources/veterivnary_practice_team_wellbeing_chapter_1.aspx

www.iReinforce.com

www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-royal-dvm-a02b0334/

An all star panel of Zoo Logic alumni discusses current wildlife news stories including why the misguided and unscientific cetacean ban recently passed by Canada's parliament will have a chilling effect on conservation research. Researchers Dr. Kelly Jaakkola and Dr. Jason Bruck join Killing Keiko author and wildlife advocate, Mark Simmons to describe some of the negative implications for wildlife conservation, public education, field research, and policymaking everywhere, not just in Canada.

The panel examines the critical role zoological facilities play in conducting important research and developing technology and methods necessary for species conservation that would simply not be possible to do in the wild. Plus, hear the panel's views on counteracting one-sided and often anti-cap media, the future of those Russian orcas and belugas, and "spy whale."

Sounds Wild: Squeak toy lemur Thanks to Conservation Ambassadors Zoo to You. http://conservationambassadors.org

https://www.ammpa.org/why-canada-got-it-wrong

www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

Dr. Kelly Jaakkola http://zoologic.libsyn.com/dolphins-live-how-long

Dolphin Research Center https://dolphins.org

www.iReinforce.com

Dr. Jason Bruck http://zoologic.libsyn.com/zoos-and-researchers-join-forces-to-preserve-nature

Killing Keiko author, Mark Simmons http://zoologic.libsyn.com/killing-keiko-author-mark-simmons-0

For more than 50 years, the American Association of Zoo Keepers has been pursuing excellence in animal care, sharing best practices, providing professional development workshops and conferences, and raising serious dollars for the support of conservation organizations in the field helping to preserve endangered species like rhinos and cheetahs. AAZK members have also planted over 100k trees! AAZK's individual members cover the range of zoological expertise from keepers to aquarists, trainers to vet techs, while covering every species in-between. Through the contributions of over 100 local chapters across the U.S and Canada, AAZK has raised more than $7M from its popular Bowling for Rhinos fundraisers over several years. Best of all, AAZK memberships are open to students and professionals alike. James Weinpress, AAZK Communication Committee Chair joins us.

All new Ms. Mallory Minute: The Narwhal.

Sounds Wild: Momma Beaver to pup. Thanks to http://conservationambassadors.org

http://aazk.org

https://aazk.org/what-is-bowling-for-rhinos/

www.iReinforce.com

www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

@ZooLogicPodcast

http://peppermintnarwhal.com

https://mallorylindsay.com

Asiatic and Sun bear products are traded and consumed illegally throughout SE Asia. The rampant use of bear parts like bile as part of traditional medicine has severely impacted bear populations. While bear farms have been prohibited by some countries, it remains legal to possess bears and thus, the farming for bile largely continues. San Diego Zoo Global's Institute for Conservation Research scientist, Dr. Elizabeth Davis uses social science methods to uncover the motivation behind bear product use and is using that information to develop strategies designed to conserve bear populations by changing consumer behavior. She and her colleagues are developing small scale behavioral change campaigns in hopes of measuring their effectiveness in reducing consumption of bear products in favor of sustainable traditional plant and/or western pharmaceuticals. Reducing demand for bear products is critical to saving wild populations and for improving the welfare for rescued bears, since law enforcement approaches and regulations to ban poaching and farming of bears has not proved successful to date.

Sounds Wild: Stellar Sea Lion

www.iReinforce.com

www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

www.freethebears.org/pages/origins

https://institute.sandiegozoo.org/science-blog/wildlife-trade-bears-cambodia-sdzg-completes-first-ever-investigation

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325360234_Understanding_Use_of_Bear_Parts_in_Southeast_Asia_to_Diminish_Demand

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211544

Shrouded in secrecy until it was declassified in the 1990's, the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program continues its mission which began nearly 60 years ago to protect service men and women at home and abroad. Dr. Mark Xitco, researcher and Director of the NMMP discusses the rich history of the program, the animal training and welfare focus in use today, the hundreds of publicly available peer-reviewed research papers on marine mammal behavior and physiology the program has produced, and the important recovery and security missions that teams of California sea lions, bottlenose dolphins, and their human trainers are ready to assist with 24 hours day anywhere in the world.

According to the NMMP website, in the early years of the program, more than a dozen different species of marine mammals, as well as sharks, rays, sea turtles, and marine birds were tested, and their sensory and physical capabilities explored. Today, the Navy relies on ​bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions as both are known for their trainability and adaptability to a wide range of marine environments. The navy relies on dolphins because they "naturally possess the most sophisticated sonar known to science. Mines and other potentially dangerous objects on the ocean floor that are difficult to detect with electronic sonar, especially in coastal shallows or cluttered harbors, are easily found by the dolphins. Both dolphins and sea lions have excellent low light vision and underwater directional hearing that allow them to detect and track undersea targets, even in dark or murky waters. They can also dive hundreds of feet below the surface, without risk of decompression sickness or "the bends" like human divers. Someday it may be possible to complete these missions with underwater drones, but for now technology is no match for the animals." The animals are trained for 3 primary missions: '"recovering objects in harbors, coastal areas, and at depth in the open sea, sea lions locate and attach recovery lines to Navy equipment on the ocean floor. Dolphins are trained to search for and mark the location of undersea mines that could threaten the safety of those on board military or civilian ships. Both dolphins and sea lions also assist security personnel in detecting and apprehending unauthorized swimmers and divers that might attempt to harm the Navy's people, vessels, or harbor facilities." That Sounds Wild: penguins www.iReinforce.com www.public.navy.mil/spawar/NIWC-Pacific/technology/Pages/mammals.aspx http://www.nmmf.org/service.html www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

American Humane is the oldest organization in the US dedicated to "promoting the welfare and safety of animals and strengthening the bond between animals and people."

For more than one hundred years, American Humane has operated wherever animals are in need of rescue, shelter, protection or security. President and CEO, Dr. Robin Ganzert describes the various programs in place to achieve its mission today including working to reunite military dogs wth their human handlers once their service is complete. In addition, American Humane achieves its mission through a variety of other programs including their well known "No Animals Were Harmed®" program in Hollywood to broad-based farm animal welfare and zoo and aquarium conservation certifications, to rapid response rescue and care. In total, about 1 Billion animals worldwide are covered by AH programs and science-based welfare certification standards.

That Sounds Wild: Lion cub

www.AmericanHumane.org

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www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

http://zoologic.libsyn.com

According to the USFWS, illegal and unsustainable trade in wildlife and plants is a multibillion dollar industry that is having a devastating impact on thousands of species globally. Former Scottish police detective and law enforcement expert, author, and lecturer John Sellar spent 14 years working for CITES where he became Chief of Enforcement and conducted hundreds of missions to more than 60 countries to assess enforcement and develop strategies to combat wildlife crime. His book, 'The UN's Lone Ranger: Combating International Wildlife Crime', was published in January 2014. In recognition of his UN service, in 2013 he was appointed by the Queen as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

That Sounds Wild: Wildebeest

https://globalinitiative.net/experts/john-m-sellar/

http://zoologic.libsyn.com

www.iReinforce.com

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Animal law expert and attorney Michelle Pardo returns to Zoo Logic to describe some of the recent and ongoing legislative efforts animal rights organizations are pushing at the local, state, and federal levels. What lessons can we learn about how the legislative process is being used to promote an extreme animal rights agenda, not shared by most people? Why is it so important for animal professionals, zoo and aquarium fans, and taxpayers to pay attention to legislative bills with reasonable sounding titles, especially when those same stakeholders are purposefully left out of the deliberative and amendment process by those seeking to pass such bills? Finally, where should our future animal welfare priorities lie? Creating redundant and unnecessary animal welfare laws and new language with which critics may launch novel legal challenges to lawful, ethical, and humane animal endeavors? Or, should we focus oversight resources and dollars on better enforcement of existing animal welfare and public display laws to eliminate the few bad actors that aren't living up to modern husbandry, training, and care standards?

Animal Adventurer and spokeswoman, Mallory Lindsay shares an all new Ms Mallory Minute. Plus, an all new That Sounds Wild.

https://blogs.duanemorris.com

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http://msmalloryadventures.com

www.iReinforce.com

http://peppermintnarwhal.com

That Sounds Wild: Beluga whales

Frequent contributor to Zoo Logic, Dr. Kelly Jaakkola, Director of Research for the Dolphin Research Center discusses the new peer-reviewed study she coauthored and published in the Journal Marine Mammal Science that compared survival rates and life expectancies for bottlenose dolphins living in zoological facilities with comparable values published for wild populations. The main takeaway from the study is dolphins living in zoological facilities today live at least as long or longer than wild populations studied to date. These results stand in stark contrast to some zoo and aquarium critics that continue to promote the false claim that dolphins do not live as long in human care.

Data analyzed in this new study come from a U.S. government source called the "Marine Mammal Inventory Report" (MMIR), which lists basic information (e.g. birth date, death date, transfers, etc.) for all dolphins in marine mammal facilities in the U.S over the past 40 years or so.

A few complications with comparing current MMIR data with previous studies of wild populations are due to the inherent limited scope of observations found in most wild studies and the different methods of statistical analysis that have been used in each previous publication. To make comparisons valid, the new study used the same analysis on the MMIR data that was used for each wild population publication.

The last scientific paper to analyze survival for dolphins in facilities before this latest study used data that are now more than 25 years old. Even back then, survival rate and life expectancy for dolphins living in zoos and aquariums in the US were increasing and this study shows continuing significant increases since then.

The current median life expectancy of bottlenose dolphins living in human care in the U.S. is 29.2 years. This is based on the most robust method of analysis called the Kaplan-Meier Survival Analysis. While the K-M approach is the most accurate analysis because it uses information from ALL animals in the population (both dead and living) and does not assume equal probability of dying at all ages like some of the other methods used in previous publications require, no wild study has yet used the Kaplan-Meier method to analyze the life expectancy of the respective wild populations examined due to the lack of detailed information on the age of living animals and the age-at-death for dead animals.

Also of interest was the finding that a direct comparison of calf survival rate between the decades-long field study of the Sarasota population of dolphins and modern MMIR data found no significant difference between populations. In other words, while dolphin calf (age less than 1 year) mortality is higher than for adults, as is the case for many species including humans, there is no significant difference in survival rate between dolphin calves born in human care and those born in the wild.

K. Jaakkola/K. Willis: How long do dolphins live? Survival rates and life expectancies for bottlenose dolphins in zoological facilities vs. wild populations. Marine Mammal Science 2019; DOI: 10.1111/mms.12601. Available at: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/mms.12601

http://zoologic.libsyn.com

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https://dolphins.org

According to the book, Dark Horse, society has systems of education and employment management that require us "to be the same as everyone else, only better." As designed, these systems are a zero-sum game with only limited opportunities for a few. Thus, these systems leave "most of us feeling disengaged, frustrated, and yearning for something more personal and authentic." Harvard researcher and Dark Horse coauthor Dr. Ogi Ogas discusses how real life dark horses are able to attaining personal fulfillment and professional success, not by following the standardize systems of society, but by tapping into each individual's micro-motives and then being willing to make decisions in the moment that reflect who they truly are. Achieving greater fulfillment is not about taking the standard pathway towards some long term goal, nor does it require the dark horse to be endowed with marvelous gifts. The dark horse mindset involves harnessing each person's individuality, not society's systems bent on conformity, in pursuit of personal satisfaction in order to achieve professional excellence.

As part of the Dark Horse Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, researchers focused on many different individuals including several animal professionals including marine mammal trainers like former Zoo Logic guest, Ken Ramirez.

Also, to celebrate World Penguin Day, we're joined by a penguin expert from SeaWorld San Diego to discuss the current status of these iconic flightless birds, as well as, SeaWorld's rich history and contributions to species other than orcas, dolphins, and sea lions.

Mallory Lindsay shares another Ms Mallory Minute on the unusual Hagfish.

https://lsi.gse.harvard.edu/dark-horse

www.iReinforce.com

https://mallorylindsay.com

https://sanccob.co.za

www.facebook.com/ZooLogicpodcast/

https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/penguins/