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Research

We value education and research that will positively impact the lives of captive animals around the world. We partner with research organizations and some of the most respected big cat experts in the country to search for causes and cures to common diseases and ailments and to gather a bank of information that will help us understand these animals, and the care that they need, better.

Our research methods are minimally invasive. They are largely observational, or we collect genetic material and data while animals are sedated for routine veterinary procedures, organically (like collecting shed whiskers), or during post-mortem examination at the end of an animals' life. Sometimes the research is even fun for the animals, like getting to play with and bite on hard plastic bite-plates hidden in fire-hose to better understand how big cats kill prey. It is all meant to improve the health and care of big cats in the future. You can read more about a few of our collaborations below.