Managing Sociality of a Captive Female Bornean Orangutan from Breeding to Post-partum at The Smithsonian\u27s National Zoo

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Orangutan Species Survival Plan® aims to maintain 100 Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in captivity. Because investment in breeding these lineages is high, properly managing sociality of potential mothers is essential. This study assessed how behaviors of a captive breeding female at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo changed from pre-gestation through the offspring’s sixth month of age to improve breeding recommendations. The infant Bornean orangutan was born September 2016. Results indicate that during breeding, the mother socialized most with two adult females. During pregnancy, the pregnant female socialized in less energy-consuming ways, i.e. grooming. Post-partum socialization and proximity data suggest a shift in female affiliation. The presence of another female with maternal experience may be beneficial to the rearing of new offspring. These results can help guide socialization management for pregnant captive orangutans to improve breeding outcomes

Opportunities for Public Aquariums to Increase the Sustainability of the Aquatic Animal Trade

The global aquatic pet trade encompasses a wide diversity of freshwater and marine organisms. While relying on a continual supply of healthy, vibrant aquatic animals, few sustainability initiatives exist within this sector. Public aquariums overlap this industry by acquiring many of the same species through the same sources. End users are also similar, as many aquarium visitors are home aquarists. Here we posit that this overlap with the pet trade gives aquariums significant opportunity to increase the sustainability of the trade in aquarium fishes and invertebrates. Improving the sustainability ethos and practices of the aquatic pet trade can carry a conservation benefit in terms of less waste, and protection of intact functioning ecosystems, at the same time as maintaining its economic and educational benefits and impacts. The relationship would also move forward the goal of public aquariums to advance aquatic conservation in a broad sense. For example, many public aquariums in North America have been instrumental in working with the seafood industry to enact positive change toward increased sustainability. The actions include being good consumers themselves, providing technical knowledge, and providing educational and outreach opportunities. These same opportunities exist for public aquariums to partner with the ornamental fish trade, which will serve to improve business, create new, more ethical and more dependable sources of aquatic animals for public aquariums, and perhaps most important, possibly transform the home aquarium industry from a threat, into a positive force for aquatic conservation. Zoo Biol. 32:1-12, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Interpreting Enhancement of Survival in Granting Section 10 Endangered Species Act Exemptions to Animal Exhibitors

Managing endangered species in captivity presents a unique set of problems. Despite their enormous potential to preserve species in the wild - through captive breeding programs, conservation initiatives, and environmental advocacy - many facilities are lagging behind. Part II of this note discusses the evolution of zoos from ancient Egyptian displays of wealth to modern day conservation and education centers. Focusing on the Endangered Species Act, Part III introduces various laws protecting captive animals. Part IV discusses the great potential of zoos to preserve species and the ecosystems on which they rely, while acknowledging the diverse nature of animal exhibitors and the variety in quality of animal care. In response to this inconsistency, and in the context of PETA v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Part V recommends four factors that the FWS might use to evaluate an animal exhibitor\u27s potential to enhance species survival in furtherance of the ESA

Project MOSI: rationale and pilot-study results of an initiative to help protect zoo animals from mosquito-transmitted pathogens and contribute data on mosquito spatio–temporal distribution change

Mosquito-borne pathogens pose major threats to both wildlife and human health and, largely as a result of unintentional human-aided dispersal of their vector species, their cumulative threat is on the rise. Anthropogenic climate change is expected to be an increasingly significant driver of mosquito dispersal and associated disease spread. The potential health implications of changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of mosquitoes highlight the importance of ongoing surveillance and, where necessary, vector control and other health-management measures. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums initiative, Project MOSI, was established to help protect vulnerable wildlife species in zoological facilities from mosquito-transmitted pathogens by establishing a zoo-based network of fixed mosquito monitoring sites to assist wildlife health management and contribute data on mosquito spatio-temporal distribution changes. A pilot study for Project MOSI is described here, including project rationale and results that confirm the feasibility of conducting basic standardized year-round mosquito trapping and monitoring in a zoo environment

Ecology on‐exhibit: careers in zoos and aquariums

Published versio

Struggle For Survival: The History and Ethics of Living Collections

This thesis explores the ethics involved with institutions caring for living collections worldwide such as zoos, national parks, and aquariums. There are several main concerns that these institutions are currently facing: poaching, keeper negligence, euthanasia within zoos themselves, and public opinion. The moral issues engrained can help guide keepers of these collections to take better care of the animals for which they are responsible. It also explores specific cases in the past in which living collections have managed serious issues and how they resolved these issues

THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT IS LACKING: HOW TO UPDATE THE FEDERAL STATUTE TO IMPROVE ZOO ANIMAL WELFARE

Visiting the zoo is a beloved national pastime — American zoos attract 183 million people annually. For many Americans, zoos provide the first, and sometimes only, opportunity for individuals to be in the presence of animals outside of domesticated cats and dogs. However, for the animals themselves, zoos can cause suffering. Two philosophies support the protection of wild animals in captivity: an anthropocentric and ecocentric view. According to the former, anthropocentric view, wild animals hold an extrinsic value and when they cease to be valuable to humans, or conflict with our other values, their interests can be sacrificed. The latter, ecocentric view, holds that wild animals have intrinsic value, can be morally harmed, and how we treat them should not be judged solely by the benefit to humans of a particular course of action. This article is written from the philosophy that animals have an intrinsic value. It examines how zoos operate under the Animal Welfare Act and how it must be improved to better zoo animal welfare under the ecocentric view. Part II provides an overview of the Animal Welfare Act, under which all zoos must adhere and are licensed. Part III discusses issues with the Animal Welfare Act, focusing on the lack of enforcement, bare minimum care standards, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) failure to shut down non-compliant zoos, and the USDA’s secrecy regarding Animal Welfare Act violator documentation. Part IV discusses two zoo accreditation organizations that provide additional animal welfare guidance to zoos and offer membership status. Part V examines the problems with zoos, including individual animal psychological suffering in captivity and breeding programs, animal susceptibility to human diseases, exploitation of zoo animals for human entertainment, and potential harm to humans. Part VI examines suggestions for improvement to the Animal Welfare Act and the viability of these recommendations, assessing their practicality and sufficiency. This article concludes that the Animal Welfare Act should be amended with species specific guidelines, a prohibition on public contact with animals, a stricter licensing procedure, and a provision for the creation of USDA facilities to treat and house confiscated animals from non-compliant zoos. Without meaningful changes to the Animal Welfare Act, the animals will continue to suffer in sub-par conditions

Fasted and furious? Considerations on the use of fasting days in large carnivore husbandry

Many large mammalian terrestrial carnivores do not hunt every day in their natural habitats, because given the right prey, they can gorge-feed more than their daily energy and nutrient requirements. At the same time, there is a tradition of exposing these species to one or several fasting days per week in zoos. In this study husbandry guidelines for large carnivores were surveyed, and feeding routines recorded in 44 European zoos. Husbandry guidelines did not suggest that fasting days should be preceded by gorge-feeding, and the most common practice observed at the zoos also did not include a gorge-feeding day prior to the fasting day. This raises the question why fasting days are implemented in zoo regimes in the first place. The observed practice of providing special enrichment on fasting days might stem from the impression that animals are not at ease when fasting after receiving a food portion basically corresponding to little more than their daily requirement on the day before, without a feeling of satiety related to gut distension. These current feeding regimes of zoo carnivores should be re-assessed. The combination of fasting days with preceding gorge-feeding, together with strenuous physical activity and cognitive challenges linked to the feeding event, might have the potential to mimic natural behaviours more closely than current practices. This should be investigated in future studies