The federal Department of Government Efficiency has notified Brookfield Zoo that $78,000 in funding for a bio-diversity and animal welfare program has been cut, POLITICO’s Illinois Playbook reported April 15.
The POLITICO story noted that much of the funding for that program has already been delivered to the zoo.
“Like many of our peers across zoos, aquariums, museums, academia and cultural institutions nationwide, Brookfield Zoo Chicago has begun to receive cancellation notifications of grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” said Jennifer Baader, the zoo’s senior vice president of government affairs, in a prepared statement.
“One of two notifications received last week is focused on a project study aimed at looking at behavioral diversity as a potential positive indicator of animal welfare,” Baader said.
According to the project grant description, it “will examine the relationship between behavioral diversity and other indicators of animal welfare such as markers of adrenal activity and stereotypic behavior.
“The project team will conduct research with a subset of Brookfield Zoo mammals representing many taxonomic groups and collect behavioral data and samples over a three-month period from 30 individual animals representing 10 mammal species.”
Pending the validation of behavioral diversity as an indicator of positive welfare, the grant description said, “animal care staff will have a new tool to use for welfare monitoring.”
Baader said the second grant termination notification was for a project aimed at staff capacity building to advance the Zoo For All initiative.
“Brookfield Zoo Chicago is designing and implementing an inclusion capacity-building program, for persons with disabilities and their families, directed at zoo staff and volunteers,” Baader said. “This internal training is essential because it ensures that all educators and staff are equipped to create equitable, welcoming and supportive learning environments for every participant.”
Nearly all funding in this grant has already been allocated, Baader added, and the zoo is not contemplating any changes as a result of the cancellation.
The POLITICO story also said the zoo receives about $1 million in federal funding every year, a small part of its $76 million annual operating budget. Nevertheless, projects like capital improvements, building renovations and expansion of outdoor animal habitats will move forward.
