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The Chicago Zoological Society was the lead institution

in the largest study of the health and welfare of
dolphins and whales in accredited zoos and aquariums.

The study advances the science of animal welfare and

puts data-based findings and cutting-edge tools into

the hands of zoo and aquarium professionals.

everal times a day, people pack Brookfield Zoo’s SEVEN
SE
S AS dolphinarium to enjoy the popular “Dolphins
in Action” program. Bottlenose dolphins dazzle onlookers with
spectacular aerial displays and other species-specific behaviors
that show off their intelligence and agility.
The Chicago Zoological Society strives to continuously
enhance the welfare of the animals under our care, said Rita
Stacey, vice president of Animal Programs for the Chicago
Zoological Society. “We are proud of our dolphin welfare
management program. We feel our dolphins thrive here at
Brookfield Zoo and now we have even more tools and
information to focus on continuous improvement.”
The tools and information Stacey referred to come from an Rita Stacey uses the newly developed app “ZooPhysioTrak” to assess dolphins’ welfare
innovative and cutting-edge study of cetaceans—aquatic mam- biomarkers to reference intervals.
mals including whales, dolphins, and porpoises—in accredited
zoos and aquariums around the world. The Cetacean Welfare The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS), which manages
Study (as published in “Towards Understanding the Welfare Brookfield Zoo, was the lead institution on this study, along with
of Cetaceans in Zoos and Aquariums”) took more than six the University of California-Irvine and the University of Florida
years to complete, and involved 237 cetaceans in 43 accredited College of Veterinary Medicine. Principal investigators included
zoos and aquariums in the U.S., Mexico, Jamaica, Spain, CZS scientists Lance Miller, Ph.D., vice president of Conservation
Portugal, Singapore, and China (Hong Kong). Science and Animal Welfare Research, and Lisa Lauderdale, Ph.D.,
The overarching goals of the study were to better understand animal welfare scientist. Stacey and the Marine Mammals staff,
the factors that contribute to the welfare of cetaceans in zoos Brookfield Zoo veterinarians, an endocrinologist, a research assistant,
and aquariums and to develop tools and information that can interns, and volunteers—and the zoo’s seven common bottlenose
be used for the continuous improvement of their care and welfare. dolphins—also took part.

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