Chester Zoo's Science/Research

20 January 2016

Some (2014) facts:

        We supported over 200 scientific projects

        50 of those projects were commissioned by the zoo, prioritising research which addresses ways to improve the way we care for species in the zoo

        Scientific expertise at the zoo covers animal welfare and wellbeing, emerging diseases and biosecurity, human-wildlife conflict, population management and visitor studies

 

From 2015:

        We are actively supervising (not just financially supporting) 15 PhD students working around the world (UK / Africa / Madagascar / Malaysia / Nepal) on creatures large and small (elephants in UK/Africa/Malaysia to harlequin mantella frogs in Madagascar), and also working with plants (how to breed rare orchids to save them being harvested from the wild).

 

Our scientists:

        Have shown that zoos and aquariums do teach the public about the delicate balance between animal species and their habitats. http://www.chesterzoo.org/attractions-and-exhibits/zoo-news/study-proves-zoos-teach-us-about-biodiversity?page=28

        Won a BIAZA Gold Award for Research which found that bacteria living on the skin of frogs varies if they are fed different diets and kept under different lights – these potentially ‘friendly’ bacteria might protect them against pathogens, such as the chytrid fungus which is causing declines in wild amphibian populations http://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/blog/blog/post/70-how-nutrition-helps-save-endangered-amphibians

        Conducted a study to evaluate how well heat panels and smaller spot lamps provide heat for reptiles including Komodo dragons http://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/blog/blog/post/419-at-the-zoo-how-do-we-keep-our-reptiles-warm

 

Nutrition:
In 2002 Chester Zoo employed the first PhD-trained, full-time zoo nutritionist in UK and the position remains one of only a handful similar roles throughout all of Europe. Responsible for the zoo’s ‘animal feeding program’ the nutritionist generates a diet sheet for every one of our species, down to each species of fish, stick insect and butterfly.  In practice, the zoo diet ‘recipe book’ has detailed ingredient and feeding instructions for more than 550 species! http://www.chesterzoo.org/global/press-and-media/press-releases/the%20complete%20recipe%20book%20for%207000%20zoo%20animals

Endocrinology (an important tool in our mission to conserve biodiversity. When animals fail to thrive or breed, clues can generally be found through hormone assessment):

• 530 elephant dung samples from the zoo’s herd of Asian elephants were analysed in the zoo’s on-site endocrinology lab (the only lab of its kind in any zoo in the UK) in 2015. The science team monitors the dung to give an indication of when the elephants may give birth and when they are ovulating.
• Including samples sent to us from other zoos around Europe, a total of 2,181 elephant dung samples have been analysed by our team in 2015.
• We have helped over 40 other zoos/institutions, mostly from the UK and Europe, and we’ve also received samples from Al Wabra in Qatar. We routinely work with 10 institutions including Zurich, Antwerp and Dublin. Around 3,000 samples have arrived from overseas in 2015  
• 10,000 dung samples, from all different species, have been tested in the lab in total in 2015
• One of the most strange, quirky and trickiest tasks the endocrinology team has taken on is analysing the water that tadpoles have been in – looking at adrenal function. The team also tests the urine of tiny golden mantilla frogs and birds such as kea’s and spix macaws.