Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on population management in AZA.

Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) facilities closed to the public. Resulting cost-saving and safety measures led some facilities to temporarily cease or reduce animal breeding and/or transfers. We surveyed AZA facilities and Species Survival Plan® (SSP) Coordinators for AZA's cooperative population management programs to evaluate how widespread these decisions were, if impacts varied by taxa, and how the AZA community navigated related challenges during the pandemic. We found that 60% of responding facilities did not suspend breeding and 22% did not suspend transfers. About 50% of responding zoos increased their reliance on ground transportation to move animals, while aquariums reported no change to transportation methods. SSP Coordinators reported the main reason why breeding decreased, regardless of taxa, was due to canceled or delayed transfers. The reasons transfers decreased differed by taxa, such as limited financial resources and lack of access to air transportation. The majority of respondents for both surveys stated transfers were the greatest challenge they faced. To address this, facilities utilized alternative transportation methods and worked closely with nearby zoos and aquariums for the movement of animals, while SSP Coordinators issued alternative transfer recommendations. If another pandemic or other widespread facility closure occurs, our research highlights the importance of communication, collaboration, and flexibility to fulfill breeding and transfer recommendations to maintain sustainable zoo and aquarium populations.

Advancing the science behind animal program sustainability: An overview of the special issue.

Over the last ten years, zoos and aquariums around the world have been coming to grips with the "sustainability crisis" - the realization that most of our collaboratively managed animal populations are not viable for the long-term. Many initiatives have been launched at the regional, zoological association, program, and institutional levels to improve the long-term trajectories of these populations. This Special Issue of Zoo Biology highlights some of the scientific approaches that are aimed at addressing population viability and sustainability challenges. The approaches range from development of new analytical tools, to analysis of large datasets, and re-examination of population management principles and philosophies. While much progress has been made in the last ten years, it is clear that continued work on population viability and sustainability is critical and difficult management decisions must be made. In this paper, we identify some of the actions that the zoological community can take to fortify our animal programs and prevent the outright extinction of species.

Hypoaminoacidemia is not associated with ulcerative lesions in black rhinoceroses, Diceros bicornis.

Ulcerative oral and skin lesions have become an issue of concern for the health of the managed black rhinoceros (rhino) (Diceros bicornis) populations. Lesions exhibited by the black rhino are clinically similar to those observed in other species with superficial necrolytic dermatitis (SND). One biochemical alteration in dogs with SND is severe hypoaminoacidemia, and nearly all cases are fatal. The objective of this study was to determine if black rhinos with analogous lesions exhibit a similar hypoaminoacidemia. Amino acid concentrations were measured in monthly plasma samples collected for 1 yr from black rhinos with (n = 4) and without (n = 34) lesions clinically consistent with SND. The rhinos with skin and/or oral lesions were zoo born males, ages 2, 6, 17, and 23 yr, from four different facilities. Three rhinos recovered from skin (n = 2) and oral lesions (n = 1). However, the one male with both skin and oral lesions died with the disease. None of the affected black rhinos exhibited a decrease in any of the amino acids evaluated or for total amino acid concentrations (P > 0.05). Based on the absence of hypoaminoacidemia and the comparatively low mortality rate in rhinos with lesions, it appears that this syndrome is not entirely consistent with SND observed in other species. These data will be useful for future assessments of rhino nutritional status and other potential metabolic diseases.