in this episode we ask the question how does a curator of great cats monitor the
health of the individual lions in a pride?
hey Josh Bernstein here i'm at the National Zoo the National Zoo is located
in northwest washington DC and is home to two thousand animals
many of them are endangered or threatened the National Zoo is committed
to the research conservation and public education of these rare species
one example is the African lion
the pride of lions at the zoo include six Cubs and three adults the adult
females are named naba and shera the male is named Luke nine lions is a lot
to care for to get a sense of how the lions are fed and what steps are taken
to monitor their health
I need to go where they live so I've arranged to meet great cats curator
Craig Sappho aha hey Josh hi Craig I found you
yeah good to see you again - yeah come on in
ok I'll take you back Craig leads me to a long underground corridor back to the
zoo's lion cages I'm excited
going into the Lion's Den so we're safe here we're safe
back here as long as you follow our safety rules and our safety rules are
really simple we like to stay over on the left hand side of our yellow line
the yellow line painted on the ground is there for safety reasons my crew and I
are given very clear instructions to stay on the left side of it away from
the cages
come on in stay on this side of the line only caretakers like Craig are allowed to be
on the right side closer to the lions
as we make our way back Craig explains one of the easiest ways zookeepers
monitor lion health is through their diet which starts with raw meat
we've got our meat here so this is the meat diet that we'll end up feeding to
the cats can I just see it I'm just curious what you feed your cats Nebraska brand
feline diet this is made for lions
this is made for large carnivores so it's lions hyenas Tigers any number of
large carnivores that's got all the nutrient enrichment that we need to make sure
that the cats stay healthy
today we're preparing the meal for the lions
lions are obligate carnivores and eat only animal flesh because their bodies
don't make certain amino acids and vitamins they need they can get them
by eating meat
believe it or not it smells like meat probably smells like meat to you just like
meat and then
but nothing no fairly mild and if it smells like meat you're in great shape
if it starts to smell a little off or rancid and you wouldn't eat it we don't
feed it to the cats to ensure and maintain their health
each lion requires a specific amount of meat every day so we weigh each
container to make sure we give the precise portion if you don't get it
right the first time
sorry we've got to fire you do you fire me or do you feed me to the lions once each lion's daily
portion of meat is weighed
Craig does something I wasn't expecting we put glitter in everybody's I was going to say it
looks like glitter glitter does not get digested by the cats
so you comes out in the poop and that helps us identify whose poop is whose
is this special glitter it is regular non toxic
glitter
that you would give to a kid for an art project each lion gets his or
her own color glitter added to their meat Luke gets green shera gets
purple and Naba gets red
why you ask well one of the ways curators can track a lion's health is by
analyzing its poop the problem though when you have a pride of lions living in
one enclosure is how do you know whose poop is whose glitter solves that problem
as it creates a marker unique to each lion
however Craig explains this problem wasn't solved overnight
it started with some simple research observations and trial and error and
then once they had enough information they began controlling for variables
testing hypotheses and analyzing their findings
there that's perfect that's enough that's enough really
as long as that will come out in the poop that's perfect and that looks
really good
that's the way Luke likes it really ok
have you tried other like you know corn
yes believe it or not we've gone through the whole gamut of things that
cats are obligate carnivores
so that's something you have to remember that they don't digest lentils and
grasses and things like that so we've tried to rice beans split peas the problem
with those is that they get embedded into the poop so much like we broke up
the chunks of meat
yeah we would have to literally sit out there and break up the poop
and that gets kind of disgusting
the great thing about the glitter is that it shows up right on the outside of the
poop so we can even from a distance
identify the poop wow as scientists
Craig and his team have planned and carried out an investigation with an
elegant solution to the poop identifying problems
the glitter is non-toxic inexpensive easily spotted at a distance and even
colorful
it's kind of like Christmas time like Christmas for lions with breakfast
finally ready Craig takes me to meet Luke who seems a little agitated at the
moment
probably because there are strangers in his territory there is nothing like
standing just a few feet away from a massive growling male lion and you can
feel that roar in your spine
it's primal and a little off-putting even for those who love big cats
duly noted
Luke does not I don't know if Luke does not like Craig but Luke and Craig have a little
bit of this tension he's tracking Craig
he's not my biggest fan and I've been warned
I've been warned by oh he's going around I've been warned by Craig that if he turns
around and presents his butt to me that means he's gonna spray me with urine
and I should just be conscious of that
Josh in cases like this if the animal is acting well I sometimes will invite
people over you can cross I can cross the line if I tell you specifically it's
okay to cross the line you're welcome to so come on across
ok you want to still mind where you are yes but he can't get through this
he cannot get through this okay can I drop meat in the hole
a little piece we always gauge the animal's behavior and with him acting like
this
yes put it in there you go what if it goes onto this side kick it no if it comes onto this side no
if it comes onto this side we leave it ok and we'll offer him just a little bit more
can i crouch down to his level
no no we never want to get down onto the cat's level ok because when you're at the
cat's level you become become food the food
so we'll drop the last little bit and then we'll leave him alone
no I dropped on his head sorry know what he'll shake that off
okay and then we get out of his way and let him enjoy the rest of his breakfast
throughout the day Luke and the other lions will continue to be fed their
portion of glitter covered meat ensuring that each receives adequate nutrition to
answer our original question how do caretakers monitor the health of
individual lions in a pride
the answer is with glitter but feeding the Lions is only the first part of the
process and since what goes in must ultimately come out in the next episode
Craig and I head into the lion enclosure to go hunting for lion poop