All over the country, the Fourth of July, with its spectacular fireworks, concerts, and parades, is an exciting time of year. It’s also the time of the year when AZA is often asked how these revelries affect animals at accredited zoos and aquariums. Many AZA-accredited facilities host July 4th celebrations or are located near areas where the events take place, giving guests the opportunities to enjoy the festivities during their visit. But the question is: do the celebrations come at the animals’ expense?
It’s a valid concern. Anyone with a family dog or cat can agree that animals are sensitive to light and sound, whether it be fireworks, thunderstorms, or the household vacuum cleaner! While more large-scale comprehensive scientific studies are needed to fully understand the various potential effects of noise on terrestrial animals, we know from personal experience that animals can be affected by visible and audible stimuli.
Some may ask are zoos humane, especially when it comes to noise intrusion? The answer is yes for AZA-accredited facilities. Guests can rest assured that at AZA-accredited facilities, animal welfare is the number one priority. AZA’s rigorous accreditation standards require all of its member zoos and aquariums to have a process for assessing animal welfare and wellness. This includes having a method in place to evaluate each animal’s physical and mental state during a significant environment change, including construction events, unusual weather events, noise intrusion, or a change in the animal’s habitat. The dedicated staff at AZA-accredited facilities are trained to recognize any signs of stress behavior and to protect the animals from any conditions detrimental to their health and welfare.
How do we achieve this? AZA’s accreditation standards mandate that animals have a choice among a variety of conditions within their environment. This means for animals normally kept outdoors at night, they are offered an option to move indoors, away from the noise. If the event occurs at night, dedicated animal care staff stay with the animals during the event to monitor them, provide enrichment treats, and distract their attention. The dedicated keepers who work with these animals every day are incredibly knowledgeable about the behaviors and personalities of each individual animal. Often, keepers will bring the animals that are more sensitive or skittish indoors long before the event begins.
Animals are constantly exposed to changes in their environment, but (with the exception of animals for which acoustics are essential for communication and/or navigation) animals have also been shown to readily adapt. Chicago Zoological Society’s Brookfield Zoo recently performed a study examining decibel levels and animal behavior during summer night concerts, and found no significant differences in animal behavior with the concerts. A second small study tracking spider monkey behavior by Florida Institute of Technology and Brevard Zoo noted that while the zoo’s Halloween event may have been mildly stressful for the animals, the monkeys reacted no worse than they had during a thunderstorm. They are not the exception; many zoos have observed the animals adapt readily to noise stimuli: both sounds that they hear every day (traffic, for example) and new experiences.
Noise from fireworks can be startling, just as natural disturbances like thunderstorms that these animals might encounter in the wild. (In fact, the loudest decibel recording during the Brookfield Zoo’s study was a male lion roaring one evening!) Nonetheless, AZA-accredited facilities actively monitor the animals and take an active role in ensuring the animals in our care are physically and mentally comfortable.