Animal Wellness is a science and requires data to for people to make well-informed, evidence-based animal management decisions.
Therefore, our Animal Care staff regularly observes the animals under our care, records their actions and appearances, and assembled this data into official records. This information is critical to ensuring that facts, rather than opinions, are used to evaluate an animal’s welfare, and respond to any concerns quickly and effectively.
On a daily basis, Animal Care staff observe animals and measure how they’re doing at a particular time. We use a wide variety of measures that examine both positive and negative indicators of welfare, including physical, mental, and emotional measures. The daily observations can allow for a better understanding of the current level of wellness for those animals and allow for early detection of any potential issues before they become chronic or severe.
Staff will measure and examine both inputs and outputs to determine factors that can influence wellness in a positive or negative way. Inputs are different factors or situations that can affect an individual animal’s welfare, such as the animal’s environmental enrichment, its veterinary care, environment, or the natural history of the species. Outputs are the different physical, behavioral, and other factors that can be examed to measure animal wellness. Outputs can include the animal’s behaviors, physiology, and reproductive success, among other factors.
This data-driven approach looks at the animal over the course of a day and throughout animal’s lifetime, helping guide our animal care plan – both for that particular animal and others of its species. Data is also shared with partnering zoos, aquariums, and other institutions, increasing the knowledge base and leading to improved animal care practices around the world.