Seoul, Korea: Everland Zoo customizes animal welfare programs with ZIMS

September 30, 2019
Mary Ellen Amodeo
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Reported from: “Everland Zoo wins world’s highest ‘animal welfare certification,” East Asia Daily, Seoul.

As the only Korean zoo that has successfully bred cheetahs, golden monkeys, and golden hair lion Tamarin, Seoul’s Everland Zoo is a model for Animal Care and Welfare. Well over half of the 140 species at Everland are classified as “Grade 1 or 2” – or close to extinction – under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

At Everland Zoo, Seoul, Kosigi uses his trunk to reach a pulley that transfers hay for feeding. Everland is AZA “Safe Habitat” certified and uses ZIMS to curate critical data for the care and welfare of more than 140 species.

Visitors learn more about what goes into wildlife care as they watch an elephant named Kosigi use his trunk to transfer hay to his platform using a pulley. The exercise keeps Kosigi’s trunk from hardening, stimulates the growth of trunk muscles, and allows zookeepers to check the interior of the elephant’s mouth. This is one of several aspect’s of Kosigi’s enclosure, nutrition, medical care, and daily routine, which also includes walking to a pond and other food sources.

“The elephant receives regular health checkup by veterinarians, and we are constantly monitoring its health through its urine and feces,” said elephant keeper Park Jeong-wook, Everland Zoo.

This holistic approach has helped Everland earn the highest level of “safe habitat” standards by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Only five institutions in Asia carry the AZA certification, including Seoul Grand Park in South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as Everland.

To customize, record, and monitor the care and welfare of its more than 1,600 animals and 140 species, Everland uses the Zooligical Information Management System (ZIMS). ZIMS is instrumental to curating and sharing information for population management, studbooks, husbandry, and medical care. including many of which are classified as “Grades 1 and 2” – or close to extinction – under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Learn more this week in an article at East Asia Daily, “Everland Zoo wins world’s highest ‘animal welfare certification.”