Life at the Zoo: Behind the Scenes with the Animal Doctors

318 Pages·2007·7.5 MB·English

by  Phillip T. Robinson

LIFE AT THE
ZOO
LIFE AT THE
ZOO
BEHIND THE SCENES WITH
THE ANIMAL DOCTORS
Phillip T. Robinson
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2004 Phillip T. Robinson, DVM
All rights reserved
E-ISBN 978-0-231-50719-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robinson, Phillip T.
Life at the zoo: behind the scenes with the animal doctors / Phillip T. Robinson. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 10 0–231–13248–4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 13 978-0-231-13248-0 (cloth : alk.paper)
ISBN 10 0-231-13249-2 (pbk. : alk.paper) ISBN 13 978-0-231-13249-7 (pbk. : alk.paper)
1. Zoos. I. Title.
QL76.R64 2004
590.73—dc22
2004043893
A Columbia University Press E-book.
CUP would be pleased to hear about your reading experience with this e-
book at [email protected].
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction

1. Intern at the Zoo: An Eclectic Orientation
2. Too Early for the Autopsy: Fitting in at the Zoo
3. Growing Pains: Educating the Menagerie Makers
4. The Keepers: Nurturing the Health of Animals
5. Zoo Babies: Promoting Motherhood
6. Exhibit Making: Creating Zoo Ecosystems
7. Creature Comfort: The Power of Microenvironments
8. What’s This Thing? Searching for the Normal
9. Holding the Tiger: Zoos Say Yes to Drugs
10. Finding the Sick in the Zoo: Seeking Out Disease and Discomfort
11. Feeding the Ark: The Nutritional Wisdom of Animals
12. Getting Closer to Animals: Judas Goats and Alpaca Coats
13. So, You Work at the Zoo? Employees, Visitors, and Fence
Jumpers
14. Animal Cases and Chases: And Some Things Better Kept to
Myself
15. Zoo Regulars: Coworkers Without Titles
16. Ethical Captivity: Animal Well-Being in Zoos
17. What a Zoo Should Be, And Ought Not Be

Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works on Zoos
Index
Photo Credits and Attributions

PREFACE
Z
oogoing is one of America’s favorite pastimes. In fact, more
Americans are reported to visit zoos and aquariums annually
than attend all major professional sporting events combined,
with present numbers approaching 140 million. Worldwide
attendance at zoos and aquariums is estimated at 600 million people.
The motives of zoogoers range from simple curiosity and amusement to
educational and spiritual growth. Americans are fascinated with animals.
This is clearly reflected in our annual expenditure of billions of dollars to
purchase pets, supplies, and animal medical care. Cats, dogs, birds,
ferrets, lizards, snakes, and tortoises have become common household
companions for people, causing a huge growth in the pet industry
worldwide. Television programs involving animals are at an all-time high,
representing one of the most popular segments of the communications
and television entertainment industry.
Perhaps no area of veterinary science is as intimidating or demands as
much versatility as the practice of zoo animal medicine. At times it
requires a taste for the kinds of body slams, physical and mental, that
might be found elsewhere only in the World Wrestling Federation. After
all, zoos are made up of both animals and people—and people usually
bring the most uncertainty to the running of a zoo.
Quagga in London Zoo, 1870
The evolution of zoos is ongoing, at times painful, and fraught with
some lingering anachronisms involving purpose and ethics. Along with
the public’s growing awareness of environmental degradation and
species extinctions, the expectations of zoos have risen steeply. In
addition, animal welfare concerns have placed zoos under the public
microscope, questioning the care and conditions of animals under their
stewardship. Responding to these influences, the zoo profession has
undergone a steady transformation over the past thirty years, changing
many of its values, priorities, and programs.
Given the global urgency to protect wildlife and wild places, some
people look with optimism upon the capabilities of the new zoological
gardens to help provide security for the survival of nature. The quagga, a
now-extinct relative of the South African plains zebras, epitomizes a
dwindling population of creatures that escaped the grasp of modern
civilization. In 1873 the last, nameless, individual died in captivity at the
Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, Holland. While the collective capacity of zoos
and aquariums to offset the steady losses of animal species in the wild is
far too small for the global problem at hand, zoos’ contributions to
conservation biology are significant, and growing. Zoos have enormous
potential to educate the public about environmental conservation and are
collaborating in the field and the laboratory to help address problems of