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Smithsonian's National Zoo -- 125 Years
The Scoop on Poop
Since the early days of few resources, there's one thing the Zoo has never been short on -- animal waste. That's a good thing! Reproduction and stress hormones found in poop help scientists make important decisions about species' survival and well-being. The same hormones can be found in blood, saliva, urine and even hair. Poop has the advantage of being easy to collect with no distress to the animal.
The Zoo also uses non-invasive techniques to analyze DNA from poop in the Genetics Laboratory. Zoo scientists studying these samples can learn an animal's sex, parasite load or territory size, all without ever touching or seeing the animal! |