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Staff at Brookfield Zoo have studied pangolin physiology, surveys for individual animals. WelfareTrak generates reports that
optimal diet, and day-to-day activities to create husbandry highlight potential shifts in welfare status. Zoos around the world
practices that ensure the animals get the best care and have use the tool to evaluate their efforts to improve the welfare of
optimal welfare. Given the animals’ susceptibility to stress, species of mammals, reptiles, and birds.
Zeigler wanted to ensure the pangolins were acclimating to 2016: Brookfield Zoo and the Shedd Aquarium were the
their new surroundings over time. first U.S. facilities to earn the Humane Certified™ seal from
Miller designed a longitudinal study. “In this type of study, American Humane. Zoos and aquariums that receive this honor
you collect baseline information and, then over time, you see pass a rigorous, evidence-based audit that covers animal-welfare
welfare changes.” Fecal samples had been collected when the standards in more than 30 areas.
pangolins first arrived at the zoo and then two years later. 2017: The Center for the Science of Animal Care and
Each sample was analyzed to determine the cortisol to DHEA Welfare hosted the Third International Symposium on Zoo
ratio, said Miller. “What we saw was a significant decrease in Animal Welfare. The three-day conference drew more than
the cortisol to DHEA ratio that you’d expect to see if the animals 125 experts from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Columbia, Russia,
are habituating to the new environment.” and elsewhere to discuss new ways to measure animal welfare.
2020: Miller and his team completed the largest-ever,
Recent Milestones in Animal multi-institutional study of cetaceans including common

Welfare at Brookfield Zoo and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins,
and beluga whales. Massive amounts of data from 43 accredited
2001: An endocrinology program was created, which did facilities in seven countries were collected and analyzed to examine
some of the first behavioral endocrinology testing for stress levels the impact of physical habitat, environmental enrichment, and
in animals. The lab is one of a few service labs in the country that animal training. Multiple manuscripts about the results of the
provides this service to others. A total of 3,556 lab samples were five-year study are under peer-review for publication in a presti-
processed in 2019 alone. gious scientific journal.
2008: The Center for the Science of Animal Care and
Welfare® was founded. It promotes a unique, holistic, science- The programs in this article, in 2020, were supported in part by
the Agape Foundation, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians,
based approach to integrating professionals from a variety of Mr. and Mrs. Walter W. Becky II, the Helen Brach Foundation, the
disciplines—including behavioral research, endocrinology, Kainz Family Foundation, Barbara Levy Kipper, the Memphis Zoological
population biology, and veterinary science—with the goal Society, Mr. Howard B. Simpson, SSB Charitable Corporation, and the
of assessing and optimizing welfare from an animal-centric Zoological Society of New Jersey, Inc.
perspective. The WelfareTrak® and Cetacean Welfare Study projects were made
2013: WelfareTrak® was launched—a user-friendly, online possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
monitoring tool that allows caretakers to complete weekly online

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