'All this research helps us care for our animals' - Dartmoor Zoo uses faeces to study stress in animals at Devon site

The aims of a good zoo are conservation, education and research, alongside providing optimal animal welfare.

Whilst conservation and education are often clear to see, research regularly happens in the background without general visitors even being aware of it.

Most of our research is on animal behaviour; from looking at how new animals are settling in, to understanding how animals engage with enrichment items and regular monitoring on our older individuals.

We are researching the nocturnal behaviour of our cloud rats; just because they are awake when we aren’t here, doesn’t mean we don’t know what they are doing!

Using camera traps, we study their behaviour when given timed feeds overnight, using ice to delay when their food becomes available. This aims to encourage foraging behaviours during their active period.

It’s not just behaviour that we study; we are currently investigating what our geladas eat.

They predominantly consume grass, but how does this change during seasons with less grass? We also complete numerous questionnaires, providing information to other researchers about how we care for our animals.

Over the last couple of years, we have been working with Plymouth University, investigating cortisol levels (a way of measuring stress) found in an animal’s poo! All this research helps us to care for our animals in the best way.

Research goes further than what the animal is doing – it is part of the day-to-day care.

We complete welfare assessments based on best practice husbandry guidelines and the latest research. We collaborate with other zoos and local universities to drive our knowledge and regularly host undergraduate and master’s students completing their dissertations or on placement years with us.

This helps us learn more about our animals whilst training the next generation of animal scientists.

Every July, we celebrate all this research with our annual internal research showcase, allowing students to share their results with staff, volunteers and researchers from other local zoos.

Our placement students and Research and Welfare Officer also present their research at conferences, and we have previously published research in scientific journals.

This allows other zoos to learn from our research as well – because, there’s no point in doing research if you don’t share the outcomes!

As a charity, we are reliant on admissions and donations to continue funding our global conservation efforts and research. If you’re able to gift a donation, every penny goes such a long way!

Alternatively, you can support us by visiting Dartmoor Zoo and taking advantage of our annual passes, where you pay once and can visit free for 12 months!