Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo have teamed up in an effort to improve the well-being of captive zoo animals.
Pam Dennis, assistant clinical professor in the college and veterinary epidemiologist at the zoo, is directing the three year Epi-Zoo program that is set up as a partnership between the college and the zoo.
The program was started to look at various health problems in populations of animals both in captivity and in the wild, Dennis said.
Since its beginning in January, the Epi-Zoo program has looked at health issues in African elephants, black rhinos and different species of gazelles, she said.
The scope of the project is not limited to large animals, however. “We will look at everything from golden frogs to Egyptian fruit bats to elephants,” Dennis said.
Zoos have an interest in captive as well as endangered animals across the world but in the past 10 years most zoo veterinary medicine has been based on zoo populations or single animal medicine, she said.
Dennis said she hopes that by looking at problems such as herd health within zoo populations, some baseline information can be established and some zoo animal population questions can be answered.
Veterinary students are incorporated into the program as they express interest, she said.
Stephanie Fletcher, a first-year veterinary student, said she got involved in the program this quarter because of her interest in exotic and zoo animal medicine.
“It is a great opportunity for epidemiological study and research,” Fletcher said.
She said epidemiological studies involve looking at what kinds of health problems might correlate with different kinds of captivity situations such as the type of fencing used for certain animals, the climate they are in, their ancestry, genetic predisposition and what other animals they are housed with or around.
Fletcher said her studies focused on two species of gazelle – gerenuk and slender-horn.
She said she decided to study the slender-horn gazelles in particular because of their unique ancestry and their extinction in the wild.
“Most of the European and North American populations came from three individuals, resulting in a very small gene pool,” Fletcher said. “They are predisposed to certain types of health problems and an epidemiological study allows us to compare the health histories of certain populations.”
Dennis said the program could lead to a comparison between animals in the wild and those in captivity. While the health issues are often different, this comparison could lead to a better understanding of what might cause problems in herd health.
The program is a three-year partnership that is funded equally by the Department of Veterinary Medicine and the Cleveland Zoological Society, Dennis said.
