Animal Care and Management at the National Zoo: Final Report by National Research Council of the National Academies

Author:National Research Council of the National Academies
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biology and Life Sciences : Animals, Plants and Other Organisms
Publisher: NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Published: 2005-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

SUMMARY

After evaluating the care provided 48 animals that died since 1999 at the Rock Creek Park or CRC facility, the committee concludes that in the majority of cases, the animals received appropriate care throughout their life at the National Zoo. In a minority of cases, the committee found evidence of apparent inadequate care or recordkeeping deficiencies. The recordkeeping deficiencies made it difficult to determine whether husbandry and veterinary procedures occurred but were not documented or whether the procedures were not performed. Due to this ambiguity, the committee could not definitively identify the factors that caused or contributed to an animal’s death.

In reviewing the many publicized animal deaths at the Rock Creek Park facility, the committee found some instances of inadequate care; however, the committee’s evaluation of randomly selected, unpublicized megavertebrate deaths at the Rock Creek Park facility revealed the animals were generally well cared for and their care was documented, suggesting that the publicized animal deaths were not indicative of a wider, undiscovered problem with animal care at the Rock Creek Park facility. At the CRC facility, few animal deaths reached the public’s attention; however, the committee’s evaluation of animal deaths revealed problems with veterinary recordkeeping and potential problems with the preventive medicine program on a scale that is similar to those previously documented at the Rock Creek Park facility.

In reviewing all of the failures identified in its review of recent animal deaths at the National Zoo, the committee identified a single organizational issue that created an environment where these events could occur. The lack of open communication and collaboration among keepers, curators, veterinarians, nutritionists, and senior management was evident in almost every case where inadequate animal care was evident. This deficiency is more obvious in some instances, such as the death of the Grevy’s zebra at the Rock Creek Park facility, where the animal’s diet was changed multiple times without the involvement of the nutritionist. However, even in the cases where failures occurred within a single department, such as the widespread failures of the veterinary staff to provide adequate preventive medical care to the animal collection, it is unclear why the keeper and curator staff did not object when animals in their care failed to receive the appropriate preventive medical care, and why senior management did not act to bring in temporary or permanent staff to address the staffing problems in the veterinary department that contributed to this problem. The committee observed that the individual departments of the zoo, even though they are all supporting the same animal collection, seldom worked collaboratively. This practice disrupts the system of checks and balances, allowing failures in animal care to occur repeatedly. Regular communication and collaboration on all aspects of animal management can mitigate human errors, which are bound to occur within any organization. Because multiple people are actively involved in the care of each animal, it is less likely that inadequate care will go unnoticed. Developing a team approach to animal care is particularly important at a facility like the National Zoo, whose animal collection as a whole is geriatric and requires additional consideration.

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