Keepin' it Wild January - March 2022

HABITAT HAZARDS:

How Guest Behavior Can Directly Influence Animal Health and Welfare.

BY RON MAGILL

The overwhelming majority of zoo guests have great respect for our animals and understand that with patience, wonderful natural behaviors can be observed. Unfortunately, there is a very small minority that sometimes tries to get an animal’s attention by making loud sounds or actually throwing items into an animal’s habitat. Though these visitors may believe that this is harmless, the reality is that it can be very detrimental, and even deadly, to the animal involved.

Making loud noises or other types of sounds that may represent danger to a particular animal can elevate their stress levels, which can sometimes lead to lower resistance to illness and disease as well as self-injury in extreme cases.

What can be even more dangerous to the animals is when foreign objects end up in their habitats. Some of these objects (cell phones, sunglasses, hats, etc.) may be the result of accidents, which is why we ask all visitors to secure any loose items they may have whenever they are observing animals.

Sometimes, the animal may ingest an item before staff has the opportunity to remove it, in which case, they still need to be notified so that the animal can be closely monitored to ensure that the item can be naturally passed and isn’t going to cause a potentially fatal obstruction. We have had some animals including alligators and a Komodo dragon that had to undergo surgery to remove items ranging from pacifiers to water bottles that could have proven fatal without veterinary intervention!

If you accidently drop an item into a habitat, please notify a staff member so that we can safely remove the item before an animal may try to ingest it.

What is most disturbing is when guests purposely throw items into habitats to evoke responses from the animals. Not only is this illegal and subject to criminal prosecution, it can quickly lead to critical health issues that, without costly veterinary care, can result in the death of the animal.

This was the case with our female spotted hyena. It was noted by her keepers that she had lost her appetite and was beginning to lose weight while becoming extremely lethargic. Her condition worsened and she was immobilized and brought to the zoo’s animal hospital for a series of in-depth tests. After close examination, her stomach was found to contain a large amount of recycled rubber mulch from the public walkways (this product is in the process of being removed from animal areas). Emergency surgery was performed to remove the material and thankfully, the animal has begun to recover. However, there is little doubt that this would have been fatal without veterinary intervention.

Foreign items found in Zoo animals

Photo by: Ron Magill

Alligator examination and removal procedure

Photo by: Ron Magill

Komodo dragon X-ray

Photo by: Ron Magill

Rubber mulch ingested by spotted hyena

Photo by: Ron Magill

When visiting the zoo, please make sure that all of your personal items are secure and please do not throw any items into animal habitats as those items can often present serious health risks to the animals. And remember, if you see something, say something! Seek out a staff member or call the zoo (305-251-0400) if you see anything that you think could be hazardous to the animals whether it’s people misbehaving or suspicious objects in a habitat.

If visiting with your children, explain to them why behaviors like yelling, tapping on the glass, or throwing objects are bad for the animals. We want to encourage respect for the natural world and inspire them to be the next generation of environmental stewards. By taking the time to patiently watch animals for extended periods of time, you may be very pleasantly surprised at some of the fascinating natural behaviors you may be able to observe.