Zoo Animal Feeding: A Natural History Viewpoint

In order to formulate animal feeding programs, zoos traditionally borrow knowledge and techniques, developed for domesticated animals, from livestock industry. Although livestock industry provides some of the basic components of feeding it is aimed at economic gain from animals, and the number of species it covers is extremely small. Moreover, wild animals are forced to make considerable adjustments to captivity in all aspects of life, and limitations of domesticated animal models should be recognized and examined. There exists a dire need to increase utilization of knowledge on food habits of wild animals acquired by field biologists, in our effort to improve zoo animal husbandry. Natural history attracts limited interest by zoos. However, it offers a wealth of information which needs to be explored to benefit zoo animal feeding practices.     

Journey from Wilderness: Facing Dilemmas of Wild Animal Exhibits

Wild animal trade, including capture and transport of animals from faraway lands to European and American markets for public exhibition, became a well-established business by the nineteenth century. Journey by animals to the destination in rudimentary conditions caused high mortality. This is an area in history that receives scant attention today. Also, husbandry technology in zoos was in dire need of improvement in earlier years. It is easy for us to condemn the work of yesteryear by using today's prism, an act called “Presentism”. Instead, we should review the deed of our predecessors in historical perspective; judging them by today's moral standard will not get us anywhere. In early day America, traveling menageries first introduced the public to captive wild animals before zoos developed as civic institutions in increasingly urban societies. During the era, the division of circuses, menageries and zoos often blurred. This essay attempts to present a holistic review of wild animal exhibition operations including traveling menageries, circuses and zoos, focusing on selected topics from the eighteenth century through the middle of the last century. Today, even with tremendous contributions having been made, zoos still face considerable challenges in terms of wildlife conservation.     

Animal Activity and Visitor Learning at the Zoo

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effect animal activity had on information visitors attended to at three bear exhibits. Attention was used as an indirect measure of what information visitors are consciously processing, or learning. It was hypothesized that visitors would be more likely to attend to specific information about animal behavior when bears were active rather than when inactive or out of sight. Visitor conversations were recorded during observations of polar, sloth and spectacled bears. Conversation was coded according to its content (animal-directed, human-focused, behavior, other) and to the corresponding behavior of the bear (active, inactive, pacing, not visible). The energy level of the activity was also considered. The hypothesis was supported for the polar bears, but less so for the other two bears. Behavior conversation was highest and human-directed conversation was lowest in the presence of highly animated polar bears. Behavior content was limited in the presence of the less animated sloth and spectacled bears. However, it was still significantly less frequent, and human content more frequent, when the sloth and spectacled bears were pacing and/or not visible. Therefore, what visitors attended to was influenced by what the bears were doing. The findings suggest that animated activity (rather than the more broadly defined ‘activity’) elicits the most visitor attention to behavior, and this in turn potentially facilitates visitor learning.     

Rambling Thoughts on Zoo Animal Collection and Conservation: A Historical Perspective

Zoo animal collections have gone through a variety of changes in recent decades. While an increasing number of species may be establishing self-sustainable populations, early specimens of some animal groups were captured and transported in wasteful and unacceptable methods, a part of history that should not be forgotten. Selection of species has shifted from individual to group decision-making processes, reflecting a different type of personnel now in charge. The fact remains, however, that zoos continue to present a popularity-driven, skewed representation of the animal kingdom to the public. Wildlife conservation has been one of the main purposes for zoos as well as zoo associations, both in Europe and America. In actuality, the concept of conservation is subject to individual interpretation and this is where a clear definition of the zoos’ role could become rather vague. An important and worthwhile task for zoos is conservation education. To counteract deep-rooted anthropomorphism in the public's mind is not easy, yet it is a necessary step to raise citizens’ environmental awareness. The ultimate results of conservation education include changing daily habits, as well as participation in grass-roots conservation movements, by citizens.     

Of Circus Wagons and Imagined Nature: A Review of American Zoo Exhibits, Part II

While animal welfare is an important issue, in actuality zoos’ resources are allocated for the public viewing while animals (in this case, mostly mammals popular to the public) are confined in small cages more than half of their time, away from the public's eye. The “naturalistic” exhibits have little resemblance to the animals’ in situ habitats. For great apes, there exists confusion as to how to accommodate animals; some subscribe to the needs of animals while others prefer imagined “natural” furnishing. Elaborate large exhibits often send misleading messages to the public regarding endangered species and zoo-based Conservation. The currently popular theme park approach hardly meets the goal of raising the public's environmental awareness. Although education is expected to be zoos’ mission, in reality it represents a formidable task. What is needed is independent and critical thinking for creative ideas, beyond the realm of accepted practices in zoos.     

Romancing The Celluloid Nature: A Review of American Zoo Exhibits, Part I

Zoos have gone through metamorphosis in recent decades, largely in response to the changing tide of the society. The central theme for the modern zoo is Conservation. Zoo exhibitry has been evolving accordingly toward a more “naturalistic” trend, symbolized by the landscape immersion method. This approach, however, has a built-in dilemma since nature cannot be duplicated in captivity. Animals are often concealed from the visiting public, generating complaints. At its core, currently common exhibit schemes are anthropomorphic as well as anthropocentric. Animals’ sensory faculties are ignored during the design process. In terms of taxonomy, distributions of the species in zoo collections are biased toward large mammals, and as resources are allocated toward species with public appeal, often left behind are smaller species of mammals and birds and lower vertebrates. There exists a need to turn a critical eye on today's zoo exhibits from all aspects.     

Experience in the Ivermectin Treatment of Internal Parasites in Zoo and Captive Wild Animals: A Review

The selection and the use of antiparasitic remedies in the animals in zoological gardens and those bred in captivity present one of the challenges to the wildlife veterinarians. The latter have to be flexible enough in the choice of medicines and schemes of treatment of the animals they take care of. The present study is aimed at adding more information in that respect. A number of cases of ivermectin treating of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish bred in captivity are presented in it. The tolerance to the drug in the different animals, species of the parasites influenced by it, dosages, schemes of applying and some other peculiarities in the system animals – diseases – anthelmintic treatments are discussed.     

医院动物实验工作人员的素质要求和培养

动物实验人员的素质是决定医院动物实验工作质量的重要因素．但通常被忽视。随着动物实验标准化进程的不断推进,提高动物实验工作人员的素质、增强专业技能就显得尤为重要。本文结合我院实践主要阐述综合性医院动物实验工作的特点、对动物实验工作人员基本素质的要求以及培养和提高的途径。     

Judging a Dog by Its Cover: Morphology but Not Training Influences Visitor Behavior toward Kenneled Dogs at Animal Shelters

Currently, visitor behavior in companion animal shelters is not adequately explored. A sequence of experiments investigated how visitors interacted with kenneled dogs at an animal shelter and whether training dogs to not engage in undesirable behavior in their kennels would evoke more interest from shelter visitors. In a set of two experiments, two sides of an animal shelter were differentially entered into training phases in a multiple baseline design. During the training phase, dogs were trained to not engage in undesirable in-kennel behavior (i.e., to not be in the back of the kennel, to not face backwards, to not lean on kennel walls, and to not bark) through pairing of the visual presentation of the experimenters (experiment 1) and shelter visitors (experiment 2) with treats. Across both experiments, visitors attended to approximately 35% of kenneled dogs and only spent an average of 15 s looking at individual dogs. We found that whereas training was effective in decreasing undesirable behavior in dogs (experiment 1: U = 4.83, p < 0.0001; experiment 2: U = 4.01, p = 0.0001), only morphology influenced visitor behavior. In experiment 1, morphologically preferred dogs (i.e., puppies, long-coated dogs, small dogs, and certain breeds) had a 1.3 times higher frequency of visits to their kennel (F_{(1, 248)} = 5.93, p < 0.05), and in experiment 2, these dogs had a 9 times higher frequency of being taken out of their kennel for further inspection (F_{(1, 69)} = 4.66, p < 0.05), compared to other dogs. One reason for a lack of effect of training may be the relatively small number of visitors observed (n = 115 across both experiments). An alternative reason may be that shelter visitors pay more attention to the morphology rather than the lack of undesirable behavior of kenneled dogs.     

SCID-hu小鼠：HIV研究的小型动物模型

长期以来缺乏病毒体内感染的小动物模型是制约HIV-1研究取得突破性进展的一大障碍。研究者将胎儿的胸腺和胎肝组织移植到重症联合免疫缺陷(SCID)小鼠体内,构建了SCID-hu(Thy／Liv)人鼠嵌合模型。该模型具备正常功能性的人造血器官“Thy／Liv”,较真实地模拟了HIV-1感染人胸腺后的状况,是研究HIV-1体内感染较成功且很有潜力的嵌合鼠模型。SCID-hu(Thy／Liv)模型的构建使得在小型动物体内研究HIV的某些致病机制、临床前评价各种先导药物的体内抗HIV活性、评价新的治疗方案及寻求合适的基因治疗等成为可能,为在体内研究人造血系统和免疫系统的病理生理机能及人干细胞基因治疗提供了有力的工具,有广泛的应用前景。     

Animal models of enterovirus 71 infection: applications and limitations

Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) has emerged as a neuroinvasive virus that is responsible for several outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific region over the past 15 years. Appropriate animal models are needed to understand EV71 neuropathogenesis better and to facilitate the development of effective vaccines and drugs. Non-human primate models have been used to characterize and evaluate the neurovirulence of EV71 after the early outbreaks in late 1990s. However, these models were not suitable for assessing the neurovirulence level of the virus and were associated with ethical and economic difficulties in terms of broad application. Several strategies have been applied to develop mouse models of EV71 infection, including strategies that employ virus adaption and immunodeficient hosts. Although these mouse models do not closely mimic human disease, they have been applied to determine the pathogenesis of and treatment and prevention of the disease. EV71 receptor-transgenic mouse models have recently been developed and have significantly advanced our understanding of the biological features of the virus and the host-parasite interactions. Overall, each of these models has advantages and disadvantages, and these models are differentially suited for studies of EV71 pathogenesis and/or the pre-clinical testing of antiviral drugs and vaccines. In this paper, we review the characteristics, applications and limitation of these EV71 animal models, including non-human primate and mouse models.     

Nursing behavior and early development of impala at San Diego Wild Animal Park

Because impala are commonly exhibited and handreared in zoos and their natural nursing behavior had not previously been studied, we examined nursing and early development in five impala calves housed in a large, naturalistic enclosure. Calves were observed for the first 5 weeks of life during 12-hr continuous watches and 20-min focal animal samples. Total daily suckling time decreased while time grazing and feeding on concentrates increased from 1–5 weeks of age. An increasing proportion of nursing bouts were terminated by the dam as calves matured, with dams terminating almost 70% of bouts during the first week. Suckling success and maternal grooming also decreased after week I, suggesting that impala mothers cut back early on nursing and grooming of offspring. Rapid decline in mother-young spatial proximity and a concomitant increase in calf association with age-mates over time suggests that the mother-young bond is weak and ephemeral in impala. An example of the implications of our results for improving handrearing programs would be that newborn calves should be started on a daylight feeding schedule of one bottle-feeding every three hours, and that they not be allowed to gorge themselves at any one of these feedings.     

A Comprehensive Review of Animal Models for Coronaviruses: SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV,and MERS-CoV

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease(COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) has already affected a large population of the world. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the same family of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus(SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus(MERSCoV). COVID-19 has a complex pathology involving severe acute respiratory infection, hyper-immune response, and coagulopathy. At present, there is no therapeutic drug or vaccine approved for the disease. There is an urgent need for an ideal animal model that can reflect clinical symptoms and underlying etiopathogenesis similar to COVID-19 patients which can be further used for evaluation of underlying mechanisms, potential vaccines, and therapeutic strategies. The current review provides a paramount insight into the available animal models of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV for the management of the diseases.     

鼠疫动物模型:经典与问题

一直以来,鼠疫菌的研究多围绕致病机制、疫苗效果评价及鼠疫治疗方案选择展开,而合理有效的鼠疫动物模型正是这些实验研究的基础与前提。研究者构建了包括小鼠、豚鼠及非人灵长类模型在内的多种动物模型,而这些模型也为人类认识、防御及治疗鼠疫菌提供了帮助,特别是一些经典动物模型沿用至今。但随着研究的深入,有些动物模型由于存在某种问题而逐渐被淘汰。本文就鼠疫菌动物模型构建以来,不同模型的优势与不足及其应用展开综述,以期为研究者提供参考。     

A Comparison of Walking Rates Between Wild and Zoo African Elephants

With increased scrutiny surrounding the welfare of elephants in zoological institutions, it is important to have empirical evidence on their current welfare status. If elephants are not receiving adequate exercise, it could lead to obesity, which can lead to many issues including acyclicity and potentially heart disease. The goal of the current study was to compare the walking rates of elephants in the wild versus elephants in zoos to determine if elephants are walking similar distances relative to their wild counterparts. Eleven wild elephants throughout different habitats and locations in Botswana were compared to 8 elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Direct comparisons revealed no significant difference in average walking rates of zoo elephants when compared with wild elephants. These results suggest that elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park walk similar rates to those of wild elephants and may be meeting their exercise needs.     

Neurochemical Consequences of Dysphoric State During Amphetamine Withdrawal in Animal Models: A Review

Chronic abuse of amphetamines, such as d-amphetamine (AMPH) and d-methamphetamine, results in psychological dependence, a condition in which the drug produces a feeling of satisfaction and a drive that requires periodic or continuous administration of the drug to produce overwhelming pleasure or to avoid discomfort such as dysphoria. The dysphoric state of AMPH withdrawal has been recognized as depressive syndromes, such as anhedonia, depression, anxiety, and social inhibition, in early drug abstinence. Medication for treatment of the dysphoric state is important for AMPH abusers to avoid impulsive self-injurious behavior or acts that are committed with unconscious or uncontrolled suicidal ideation. However, successful treatments for AMPH withdrawal remain elusive, since the exact molecular basis of the expression of dysphoria has not been fully elucidated. This review focuses on the molecular aspects of AMPH withdrawal as indexed by neurochemical parameters under a variety of injection regimens (for example, levels of brain monoamines and their metabolites, and γ-aminobutyric acid, expression of genes and proteins involved in neuronal activity, and monoamine metabolism and availability) in rodent models which exhibit significant phenotypic features relevant to the syndromes of AMPH withdrawal in humans.     

Stress-Management Training for Essential Hypertension: A Controlled Study

Forty three patients with essential hypertension participated in a study on the effectiveness of stress-management training for essential hypertension. After 6–9 clinic and 48 self-measured readings of systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP), 22 patients were treated with a program based on education, relaxation, and problem-solving training; and another 21 patients were assigned to a waiting list control group. At post-treatment, mean reductions of clinic BP (17/13 mm Hg vs. 6.9/4.7 mm Hg for SBP/DBP), percentages of subjects who achieved at least a 5 mm Hg reduction (86/86% vs. 48/48% for SBP/DBP) and percentages of subjects who in addition achieved a normotensive level (59/68% vs. 29/14% for SBP/DBP) were significantly higher in the treated group than in the control group. Concerning self-measured BP, the effectiveness of the stress-management training was not so considerable (mean reductions of 3.6/2.4 mm Hg and percentages of subjects who achieved a 5 mm Hg reduction of 52/38% for SBP/DBP), but it was significant and maintained in a 4-month follow-up assessment (mean reductions of 4/2 mm Hg and percentages of subjects who achieved a 5 mm Hg reduction of 48/33% for SBP/DBP). It is suggested that stress-management training can be beneficial for treatment of essential hypertension.     

Program review. Challenges and opportunities for training the next generation of biophysicists: perspectives of the directors of the Molecular Biophysics Training Program at Northwestern University

Molecular biophysics is a broad, diverse, and dynamic field that has presented a variety of unique challenges and opportunities for training future generations of investigators. Having been or currently being intimately associated with the Molecular Biophysics Training Program at Northwestern, we present our perspectives on various issues that we have encountered over the years. We propose no cookie-cutter solutions, as there is no consensus on what constitutes the "ideal" program. However, there is uniformity in opinion on some key issues that might be useful to those interested in establishing a biophysics training program.     

Animal models of diabetic retinopathy: doors to investigate pathogenesis and potential therapeutics

Effective and validated animal models are valuable to investigate the pathogenesis and potential therapeutics for human diseases. There is much concern for diabetic retinopathy (DR) in that it affects substantial number of working population all around the world, resulting in visual deterioration and social deprivation. In this review, we discuss animal models of DR based on different species of animals from zebrafish to monkeys and prerequisites for animal models. Despite criticisms on imprudent use of laboratory animals, we hope that animal models of DR will be appropriately utilized to deepen our understanding on the pathogenesis of DR and to support our struggle to find novel therapeutics against catastrophic visual loss from DR.