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Veterinary staff perform regular check-ups on Brookfield
Zoo's pangolins to ensure they are thriving.
When the pangolins arrived at Brookfield to tackle this task. We are one of about 20 which was really surprising,” Watts said.
Zoo in 2016, animal care and veterinary accredited U.S. zoos to have a registered “Normally ants aren’t fatty at all, so we had
staff knew next to nothing about them. animal nutritionist on staff. assumed the pangolins' diet was fairly low
They’re not really featured in veterinary in fat—but it was actually higher in fat
literature, and almost no institutions in Dr. Jennifer Watts, the Society’s than we thought.”
the United States have successfully housed director of nutrition, started with analyzing
them before. blood samples from each of the pangolins Watts made the appropriate
to ensure they were getting the nutrients adjustments, and all 12 pangolins at
But everyone immediately jumped into they needed. She found the original diet Brookfield Zoo appear to be thriving.
learning as much as they could about these (primarily composed of worms, but also
special creatures. containing flaxseed, brewer’s yeast, and In addition to constantly monitoring
powdered chitin) was a bit high in calcium, and tweaking the pangolins’ diet, the
“We very quickly created a network of and so adjusted appropriately. veterinary team has two main goals:
vets working with these animals in North
America—the Consortium made that easy She continues to analyze blood samples 1. Understanding pangolins’
to do,” said Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, quarterly to ensure these animals are
associate veterinarian for the Society. “And receiving all the nutrients they need—and reproductive physiology
we all quickly made a basic care document, if they aren’t, she makes further tweaks. (currently, experts aren’t exactly
which we all use to keep everyone updated sure of their gestation length or
as we learn more and more.” And again, it’s all about Consortium optimal breeding conditions).
members working together.
Ensuring these animals were receiving 2. Becoming familiar with their
a proper diet was a crucial first step—and “Another zoo analyzed ants from
Brookfield Zoo was perfectly positioned Togo, and learned that they’re very fatty, biggest health concerns and
how to detect and treat them.
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