Zoo Logic

As he describes in his recently released first book, Dog Dad: How Animals Bring out the Best in Us and Can Help Save the World , Instagram sensation Tophy Brophy's childhood was anything but easy.  Suffering from anxiety and never feeling fully connected to the people around him, Topher recalls years of loneliness, depression and attempts to cure his "sad sickness."  Once he found a lifelong frien...

We catch up with long time pinniped trainer, Heather Crane to see how the recent launch of her 16,000 square foot animal rescue, training, and boarding facility for Sea Dog Animal Training is going. As part of her mission to help the animal population of Houston, Heather and her team set aside about 40% of kennel space for rescue and feral dog rehabilitation.  In addition to the main boarding wing...

We catch up with Zoological Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery ( ZDR3 ) executive director, Julia Wagner following their deployment to south Florida immediately after hurricane Ian made landfall. Julia shares what the team discovered, and how member zoo and aquarium facilities both in the region and from several states away were quick to provide resources and expertise to help facilities deva...

Dr. Katie Hall is the Animal Welfare and Training coordinator for Sedgwick County Zoo .  Her interest in animal welfare and training began as a teenager when she had the opportunity to provide care for chimpanzees used in the film industry.  As an internal consultant to the animal care and veterinary team, Dr. Hall describes the importance of collecting and using behavioral and physiological data...

Less than 24 hours after the near category 5 strength hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida, Zoological Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery (ZDR3) executive director, Julia Wagner, was already booked on a flight to help the region's zoos and aquariums. Julia describes the consortium of over 100 zoological facilities nationwide who have signed on to lend assistance, staffing, expe...

For nearly 100 years, the Sacramento Zoo has operated on approximately 14 acres. As a result of improvements in animal welfare standards, many of the iconic charismatic species the zoo once displayed are no longer featured due to space. Soon after becoming CEO, Jason Jacobs began investigating what it would take to modernize the current zoo or relocate to a larger location. The analysis concluded...

As the song Collide states, even the best fall down sometimes.  That was the situation in 2020-2021 when one of the premier zoological institutions in the world, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium , stumbled as a result of poor judgment by a few in leadership. Stepping into the fray was long time Texas State Aquarium CEO Tom Schmid to answer the call to restore stakeholder trust in the organization. To...

As the newer director of Turtle Back Zoo with an all female senior leadership team, Dr. Jilian Fazio discusses the growing demographic shift in zoological professions towards greater diversity. As more women assume leadership roles, what does she believe are some of the long term implications for the zoo and aquarium community?  Plus, as the leader of her organization how does she adjust to the ty...

Clay Carabajal got his zoological start as a "show host" at SeaWorld of Texas. While not exactly the role he envisioned at the marine mammal park as a young man, he turned it into one opportunity after another over a 17-year span. The lessons learned served him well as an educator and ambassador animal presenter. Following the examples set by his mentors Julie Scardina and Jungle Jack Hanna, Clay...

About 5 years ago, a month old beluga whale calf from the endangered subpopulation of cetaceans native to Cook Inlet Alaska stranded on a mud flat. Much to the surprise of initial responders from the Alaska Sealife Center , the little male was still alive but in serious condition. Over the next serval days and weeks, members of the marine mammal zoological community rallied from across the U.S. to...

How do we describe the last of any living thing, plant or animal? Is there even a word for something, some individual that is the last of its kind?  And does it matter? According to scientist and historian, Dr. Lydia Pyne , one useful word may be, "Endling." In her new book, Endlings: Fables for the Anthropocene , she explains why these "last individuals" are poignant characters in the stories tha...

Growing up in the United Kingdom, Will Elgar told his mom he was going to be either an astronaut, dolphin trainer or stunt man.  Given the lack of cetaceans in the UK, working with dolphins seemed unlikely, but Will eventually found a way. It turns out that his real passion was working with and training sea lions, which led him to new opportunities and species around the world. Recently named as t...

Given the lack of familiarity on the current state of animals in research combined with deliberate misinformation by animal rights organizations, it's no wonder people have doubts about the use of animals for biomedical studies. Dr Cindy Buckmaster, Director of Public Outreach for the National Animal Interest Alliance and host of the podcast, GetReal! describes why animals are still necessary to d...

From time to time Zoo Logic is approached by publishers, animal facilities, and individuals requesting to appear on this podcast. Recently, we were approached by a publisher in what can only be described as the most unexpected guest request ever! The publisher had re-issued an updated 30th anniversary edition of Free the Animals , written by none other than PeTA founder, Ingrid Newkirk. After send...

Recently, the IUCN Red List announced its findings that the Monarch Butterfly population had declined between 22% and 72% in just the past decade. As a result of this latest census, which largely attributes the dramatic population decline to habitat loss and overuse of pesticides, the species is now listed as endangered by the IUCN. Butterfly Wonderland's director of education, Adriane Grimaldi he...

Emmy winner, best-selling author, and animal advocate Carolyn Hennesy shares news on the launch of her new podcast: Life, Love  and Conservation. We also learn more about her work as an actor and how she's able to channel the light and dark she says lies within each of us to create memorable characters on stage and screen. Plus, she reveals her professional link to the Star Wars universe and her f...

After 15 months of constant care to restore JJ the gray whale calf to health and to prepare her for life in the wild, the complex day to return her back to the sea had arrived. Marine mammal expert Keith Yip describes the apprehension he and his team experienced as they attempted to safely transport the largest living creature in history.   Plus, a moment to remember the passing of a marine mammal...

A quarter of a century ago, SeaWorld San Diego received a days old, nearly one ton gray whale calf whose mother was nowhere to be found and was presumed dead from a possible boat strike. With no previous data or experience on the neonatal nutritional and husbandry needs of a large species of baleen whale, SeaWorld's Keith Yip and the rest of the animal team set about the impossible task of saving...

Maricopa County Animal Care and Control is one of the largest municipal shelters in the US. Community Outreach Manager, Gina Martino describes the challenges of operating a nearly full public shelter caring for several hundred animals at a time in the fastest growing county in the country. Compounding matters is the July 4th holiday, which invariably leads to more missing and frightened family pet...

For the past few weeks, the ZooMontana team has been at the center of a local controversy stemming from a scheduled 406 Pride event featuring drag queens reading family friendly stories to children. Executive Director, Jeff Ewelt who has borne the brunt of the criticism by those opposed to the Pride event being held at the zoo, has eloquently and unapologetically posted on social media defending h...

The New York State court of appeals announced its decision this week supporting lower court rulings that Happy, the Bronx Zoo elephant, was not entitled to legal rights held by human beings such as Habeas Corpus . This is the latest in a series of attempts by groups such as the non Human Rights Project to have charismatic animals like elephants and great apes granted personhood, under which they c...

Dr. Holley Muraco is the director of research at the Mississippi Aquarium. In addition to starting her career training aquatic and terrestrial animals like dolphins and elephants, she has spent her graduate and post graduate time studying reproduction in marine mammals, especially those that are not as prolific in human care. She also enjoys working with students, particularly girls and minorities...

Hickman's Family Farms is a family run egg provider almost as old as the state of Arizona where the company was founded. With approximately 10 million laying hens housed across a half dozen facilities in the Southwest, its husbandry and bio-security measures to protect the collection from hazards such as the current strain of Avian Influenza virus dwarf those of any zoo or aquarium. Compliance Man...

It's part two of our animal welfare research panel of experts from the recent meeting of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums held at SeaWorld of Florida . First up is researcher, Dr Jason Bruck describing his diverse study interests including the first published evidence that dolphins utilize urine to identify conspecifics--an extraordinary finding making national and international n...

Recently, the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums held its annual meeting at SeaWorld of Florida. We had the opportunity to hear from several researchers on the latest zoo and aquarium animal welfare studies, with an emphasis on cetaceans. In part one of this two part series, we hear from Dr. Lance Miller from the Chicago Zoological Society on how the organization monitors, assesses, and...