How does an animal tell you how they’re feeling or what they’re experiencing? Science. More specifically, through the Animal Welfare Science Program, a formalized initiative to better understand each individual in the zoo’s care. The dedicated Animal Care staff at the zoo work 365 days a year to feed specialized diets, create dynamic habitats, and…
Lions. Elephants. Chimpanzees. African dogs. Mountain gorillas. Rachel Santymire, Ph.D., director of Lincoln Park Zoo’s Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, has studied wild and captive species from every corner of the world via hair, blood, nail, semen, urine, and fecal samples. By analyzing the stress and reproductive hormones in biological materials, she monitored the…
The Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology has a single goal: to use data to provide better care for animals at the zoo and conserve species in the wild. Pregnant female rhino Kapuki is no exception. Davee Center scientists have been using Kapuki’s fecal samples, or poop, to measure stress and hormone levels ever since she…
