Objectives

Investigate wild and captive animal diets of key Perth Zoo species as part of the veterinary preventative health program and to investigate the quality of the browse and other dietary items fed to Perth Zoo collection animals in order to provide the best nutrition possible. Investigate disease conditions that have arisen from nutritional disorders.

Background

Nutrition provides the corner stone to the delivery of healthy and reproductively active animals, both in the wild and captive setting. Although the understanding of nutritional requirements in wildlife has developed significantly over the last 10 years, detailed nutritional understanding of wildlife and the implications for optimum physical and mental health and reproduction remains in its infancy. The supply of optimum nutrition and the understanding of wild diets is a complex area and regularly initiates research topics for staff, students and researchers.

Perth Zoo staff have participated in a wide range of nutrition based research investigations, including such areas as fodder analysis, invertebrate prey analysis, dietary supplementation, deficiencies and excesses of vitamins, breeding and seasonal diet investigations and wild diet comparisons.

Examples of research conducted by university research students include:

• The digestibility of termites by the numbat by Miss C Cooper.
• Do plant nutrient levels determine selection of kangaroos? By Ms C Rafferty
• Nutritional analysis of the wild and captive diets of Western Australian Cockatoos by Erin Kelty

Program staff

Program leader

Dr Cree Monaghan
Director Animal Health Science & Research , Perth Zoo

Perth Zoo staff 

Dr Simone Vitali
Senior Veterinarian, Perth Zoo

Dr Paul Eden
Associate Veterinarian, Perth Zoo

Curator Horticulture, Perth Zoo

Perth Zoo Veterinary nurses

Dr Christine Halais
Honourary Research Fellow, Perth Zoo

Outside collaborators 

Professor Nick Costa
Murdoch University, Animal nutritionist

Professor Ian Williams
University of Western Australia, Coordinator – School Animal Biology

Gerard Smith
WA Agriculture Department

Warren Potts
Managing Director, Specialty Feeds Pty Ltd

Current Strategies

1. Develop a focus group of specialists in the field of nutrition to meet regularly to discuss and promote the study of zoo nutrition projects/problems.

2. Promote the two most urgently required investigations as research projects available for honours students at Perth Zoo on an annual basis.

3. Promote study of small-scale nutritional issues by Keeping staff (in conjunction with Veterinary staff) as part of the Keeper Career Structure or Certificate lV in Captive Animals.

Proposed New Activities

(a) Modernising Zoo Nutrition

• Vitamin E metabolism in exotic animals, especially TPSG in Asian elephants, White rhinoceros and quokkas.
• There is a priority to regularly review the animal collection diets. This would involve input from many of the people mentioned above. Critical animal groups include:
      - Psittacines: breeding diets, weight loss diets and enrichment requirements.
      - All bird diets in the Zoo
      - Rodents in the Zoo, particularly those in captive breeding programs eg Central Rock Rat.
• Develop breeding diets for marsupials in the Zoo to enhance breeding success, particularly dasyurids.
• Investigate nutritional value of grasshoppers in the diet of agamid lizards.
• Formulate winter and breeding diets for the collection’s chiropteran species.
• Develop convalescence dietary regimes for species requiring long term hospitalisation, particularly Cockatoos, Egrets and Oblong Tortoises.

(b) Database management of nutritional information.

(c) Vitamin supplementation and diet reviews for breeding enhancement for priority species.

(d) Participation in conservation program diet reviews including Black cockatoos, Gilbert’s potoroos, Rhinoceros, Western Swamp Tortoise and Numbat.

(e) Large hoofstock dietary reviews for weight management.

(taken from p18 of the Perth Zoo Research Business Plan)