Before she accepted the role of executive director of the Zoological Association of America in 2023, Dr. Kelly George was a researcher with Ohio State University studying human-animal relationships with an emphasis on welfare and behavior. Today she leads the young but growing trade association focused on improving standards of husbandry care, educating the public, and promoting greater conservation efforts for species in human care and in the wild. She describes her first year, where the...

As director of research for the Dolphin Research Center, Dr. Kelly Jaakkola spends much of her time studying the cognitive abilities of bottlenose dolphins, as well as, refuting the false or unsubstantiated narratives stemming from all places, recent peer-reviewed publications by authors opposed to marine mammals in human care. One of two of her recent publications examines whether these small cetaceans in human care live in "impoverished" environments. Spoiler alert, they don't. However,...

Before she became an expert avian trainer with Natural Encounters, Ari Bailey got her start working with crocodilian species at a time when aversives and physical restraint were still commonly in use. Fortunately, the state of animal training for crocodilians and other ectothermic species has since advanced; in many ways, the same sort of husbandry behaviors commonly seen with mammals and birds can also be seen with reptiles at modern zoological facilities. However, while the principles of...

The post Civil War era gave rise to unprecedented social changes. The energy and activism directed at ending the scourge of slavery found new life in improving the welfare of animals, particularly those species in American homes, industry, entertainment, and on the dinner plate. Authors, Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, DVM have written their second book together (Knopf, 4/23) examining the extraordinary animal welfare movement that emerged during the latter third of the 19th century. Readers of...

On a recent visit to a zoological facility, their senior animal manager asked about my current views on the use of negative reinforcement given past treatment of the subject in my book ZOOmility going back to the mid 2000's, when I largely discouraged trainers from using the training tool. So we thought it might be time to take another look at that behavioral tool to better understand if, when or with what species it is ever appropriate to use negative reinforcement since it requires the...

What is the secret to longevity and relevance in any career path?  While the answer may vary among differing professions, one ingredient seems to be a willingness to "apply the joy of exploration to our own lives," according to actor, director, best selling author, musician, and real life space traveler, William Shatner. In 2022, Shatner now 93, best known for his iconic role on Star Trek as Captain James T. Kirk, wrote Boldly Go with coauthor, writer and director Joshua Brandon. The book...

It would likely surprise most people that until about a decade ago, military service dogs were routinely euthanized at the end of their working service life rather than be transported back to the U.S. and a life of retirement. Congress and the Department of Defense finally provided some resources to ensure military working dogs are returned to U.S. soil at the completion of their service. These funds do not cover all transport costs and there are currently no funds to help these animals deal...

Recently, the open access scientific journal Animals published a special issue entitled: Zoo and Aquarium Welfare, Ethics, Behavior.  Many of the peer-reviewed papers within this special issue focus on and in some instances call for improvements to animal welfare assessment, husbandry, training, housing, and overall management. The goal of the invited editors, which includes the host of Zoo Logic, was to highlight advances and current best practices across a range of species, and to inspire...

A prolific naturalist, award-winning and bestselling author Sy Montgomery and her colleague, Warren Carlyle founder of Octonation, the largest octopus fan club in the world, have a new release entitled Secrets of the Octopus. This book is a follow up to Sy's scientific treatment of the species in 2015's bestseller, Soul of the Octopus. Warren and Sy's passion for this unique species is unmistakable. Both share their journey learning about and promoting further study and preservation of these...

The Executive Director of Zoological Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery (ZDR3), Julia Matson Wagner, returns on the eve of this coming season for natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. After several years focusing on providing immediate disaster response and support for affected zoological facilities, ZDR3 has grown in scope in terms of the number of participating facilities and expanded educational outreach. In just a few years, ZDR3's growing response network has...

After years of working with some of the world's top tequila brands, particularly on the elimination of production waste water, retired police officer Tony Boyle and his news anchor spouse, Olivia Fierro have embarked on a new venture producing Tequila Corrido. The relaunch of the award-winning spirit rests on the principles of sustainability and paying homage to tradition. From harvesting the hundreds of thousands of blue agave plants each year from local farms in the highlands of the Jalisco...

Kathy Finley found herself bullied as a child but she drew comfort, confidence, and courage from the pets she loved so well, especially her cats. She thought of her animals as the source of her superpower to make friends which helped build up her self-esteem. That is, until later in life she allowed an abusive husband to remove animals from her home life and thereby, sapping her confidence and feelings of self-worth. It was the gift of a shelter kitten by coworkers that changed everything...

Kevin Willis has served the zoological community for decades in a variety of posts, including time with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, as one of our most important statisticians. His work is documented in peer-reviewed publications and essays across a multitude of terrestrial and aquatic species, from elephants to orcas. His greatest skill seems to be explaining and applying statistical principles to complex conservation questions in a manner the rest of us can easily grasp. He...

The journal, Animals, has published a special issue that includes overviews and original research papers that rigorously assess zoo and aquarium behavior, welfare and ethics. One of the papers, The Cetacean Sanctuary: A Sea of Unknowns is written by frequent Zoo Logic guest, Dr. Jason Bruck and concerns the elusive cetacean sanctuary standards put forth by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). Jason methodically asks questions about important aspects of animal welfare arising...

The International Elephant Foundation turns 25 this year and the conservation organization continues to break new ground in preserving the world's largest land mammal. Conservation Coordinator, Sarah Conley describes the three species of elephants and the unique challenges to their respective survival. From working with local communities to support the work of game rangers, supporting research for the study and prevention of deadly EEHV to piloting the training and use of feral dogs as...

According to its website, the Dolphin Research Center promotes peaceful coexistence, cooperation and communication between marine mammals, humans and the environment. They achieve this through education, research and rescue. Home to generations of bottlenose dolphins as well as California sea lions, the DRC is uniquely situated to study cognition, behavior and husbandry. DRC president and CEO Rita Irwin and Director of Research, Dr. Kelly Jaakkola discuss 40 years of scientific investigations...

A fun day of snowboarding for 18-year-old Forrest Allen ended in a life-threatening traumatic brain injury, which forever altered his life and that of his family and friends. Neurologists told his well-known parents, veterinarians, Kent Allen and Rae Stone, cofounder of Dolphin Quest, that he would likely not survive the night. Despite that dire warning, Forrest did indeed survive but not without surgeons having to remove 1/3 of his skull which resulted in its own set of complications and...

Many people dream of going on safari. Given the distance, time, and expense involved it is important to research and understand what options, locations, and experiences are most important to you and your travel companions. We talk with one expat with nearly 20 years of experience living abroad, combined with dozens of safaris to well known and more remote locations in east Africa for her suggestions on building that trip of a lifetime. Animal care Software

As 2023 draws to a close and Zoo Logic approaches its 300th episode, we look back at a remarkable institution that launched or strengthened the careers of many zoological professionals and leaders still very active today. In 1970, the second SeaWorld park opened in a most unlikely place, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio on the shores of Geauga Lake. The purpose of building an inland marine animal park in the Midwest was to draw upon a radius of huge population centers located within about a 6-hour...

KVP is one of the largest veterinary product manufacturers and distributors in the U.S. In their quarterly newsletter called the Bowman Report, the company describes the growing push by veterinarians and their customers towards more sustainably sourced materials and manufactured veterinary products, especially high use plastic products like nitrile gloves, pill bottles, and Elizabethan collars. VP of Marketing Will Schwing, discusses why customers are willing to spend on more sustainable...

Recently, Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park welcomed the birth of a female white rhino. This was no ordinary or overnight conservation success story according to its president, Kristy Hayden. The process began nearly 10-years ago with a significant financial commitment of hundreds of thousands of dollars by the forty-year-old, for-profit organization to acquire and import 3 unrelated females from South Africa. After the animals were identified and their protection and care...

A recent peer-reviewed paper discussed the concept and procedure known as errorless learning and compares its efficacy training dogs to that of the more typical trial-and-error approach to learning. One of the authors of the paper: Comparing Trial-and-Error to Errorless Learning Procedures in Training Pet Dogs a Visual Discrimination, Dr. Eduardo "Eddie" Fernandez discusses the process and its favorable impact on the subjects' frustration, behavior acquisition rate, and failure compared to...

Several years ago, a few zoo professionals recognized the growing need for better access to mental health resources for their peers.  Together they formed Growing Resiliency for Aquarium and Zoo Employees or GRAZE for the purpose of "bringing mental health support to those in the zoo and aquarium industry by raising awareness, sharing ideas, resources, and tools." The GRAZE team of Erin McNally, LVT; Shannon McKinney & Hannah Fullmer discuss the nature of grief and how their company helps...

Lisa Niver was a successful teacher, traveler, and dive master turned award-winning travel writer, but privately things were not as they seemed. At the lowest point in her life and staring at starting over, she found the strength to free herself from an abusive marriage and set upon a path towards personal growth and healing. One strategy was to complete 50 challenges before her 50th birthday as described in her new book, Brave-ish: one breakup, six continents and feeling fearless after...