Where the Wild Things Are

By Tom Hall

Lucy Spelman (Photo: Richard Strauss/Smithsonian National Zoo)

She and her staff had done their homework on these endangered bears. They knew all about their climbing habits. They knew what they ate. They knew about the types of trees, brush and rock formations found in their native habitat in central China. And they reviewed everything that was learned from the zoo’s prior pair of giant pandas, Ling Ling (1972-1994) and Hsing Hsing (1972-1999). So they hoped they were ready to welcome two very important guests to the zoo: Tian Tian, a male giant panda, and Mei Xiang, a female, on a 10-year loan from China.

For the outside yards, Spelman’s team had recreated the panda’s natural habitat, building grottoes that resembled shallow open caves within a natural rock outcropping. Inside, these grottoes could be cooled with cold air or cold water on hot days. In addition, trees were planted, tree limbs strewn about, the pools enlarged and a misting/fogging system added. For the indoor night quarters, new rockwork was built with holes for bamboo stalks and spots for potted bamboo. The team had worked hard on every detail. Still, they didn’t know for sure how well, or even if, the pandas would like this environment. They also didn’t know for sure if the pandas would eat bamboo from the Washington, D.C., area.

“We were still very nervous about how it would go when we introduced them to their new home,” recalls Spelman, who at 37 became not only the first female but also the youngest director in the zoo’s 112-year history. It had been a long trip for the panda pair—and for Spelman, who had flown to China to bring the pandas back to the States aboard a FedEx plane and now had been awake for nearly 36 hours. The team was anxious that the pandas settle in quickly and that the transition go smoothly.

Tian Tian and Mei Xiang had traveled in individual crates, which were now placed in their new home. The crates were opened, and the pandas slowly began to explore.

Tian Tian (Photo: Jessie Cohen/Smithsonian National Zoo)

“The entire experience with the new pandas has been an unqualified success that is directly attributable to the tremendous teamwork of the staff, from the veterinarians to the grounds people,” she said.

The addition of the two new giant pandas was also a success at the gate, bringing another wave of visitors to the zoo—more than 100,000 in the first 10 days. Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, who came from the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, Sichuan Province, replaced the zoo’s first pair of giant pandas, which were donated in 1972 and proved to be real crowd pleasers for the next two decades. Ling-Ling died in 1994, and Hsing-Hsing, who suffered from terminal kidney disease, was euthanized in 1999 by Spelman, who was the zoo’s head veterinarian at the time.

“That was the toughest thing I’ve had to do in my entire career,” she said. “It was the right thing because Hsing-Hsing was very sick, but it was still difficult. He was a great animal and touched a lot of people.”

Animals have been a part of Spelman’s life since the Connecticut native grew up on a dairy farm. Spelman earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University in Providence, R.I., in 1985 then moved to the West Coast to attend the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, earning her doctorate in 1990.

“My career goals were always supported at UC Davis,” said Spelman. “And as I tell aspiring zoo vets all the time, the key to zoo medicine is to learn dog, cat, horse, cow and poultry first. I learned all of this and more at UC Davis.”

During her summer breaks at UC Davis, Spelman completed summer externships at both the San Diego Zoo and the New England Primate Center, gaining valuable experience in nondomestic medicine. After graduating from UC Davis, she moved to Los Angeles where she interned in internal medicine with Dr. S. Ettinger & Associates. During this time she also began serving as a consultant in zoological medicine and wildlife rehabilitation at the Wildlife Way Station in Los Angeles.

A year later, she moved to Raleigh, N.C., to participate in what was at the time a brand-new three-year residency program in zoological medicine, administered by North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the North Carolina State Zoological Park. Upon completion of the program, she became the first veterinarian to complete a residency, qualify and pass the board certification examination in zoological medicine within the same year. She is one of only about 50 board-certified zoo veterinarians in the country. Then she moved again, this time to care for the 3,500 animals at the 163-acre National Zoo, first as an associate veterinarian and then, in September 1999, as head veterinarian.

Spelman considered head veterinarian her “dream job.” It usually takes a lot to get people to leave their dream job. For Spelman, the directorship was a chance to have an even bigger impact. Her focus has changed from saving an individual animal to saving a species. The National Zoo—established by an Act of Congress in 1889—was, in fact, the first zoo whose mission was to save animals on the brink of extinction. It currently houses 130 animal species, of which 45 are endangered or threatened.

“My life goal is to have an impact on the big-picture conservation effort,” she said. “I chose zoo medicine as a career because I have a passion for medicine and I have a passion for animals. Getting this promotion has allowed me to make larger contributions to the conservation effort.”

She downplays the significance of being the first woman, and a young one at that, to hold the position. “It’s all a matter of talent here,” she said. “Age, sex, race—none of that matters. If my being a female director inspires somebody else, then that’s great. What it means to me is that if you want something and you’re willing to work for it, then there is no limit to what you can do.”

Despite her many responsibilities, Spelman manages to stay active as a zoo veterinarian. She performs “healthy animal checkups” one or two mornings a week unless she’s away from D.C. She’s also the resident expert on giant pandas so takes an active role in their care.

But now that she is director, her time spent with the animals often serves a dual purpose. “My position allows me to expose others in influential positions to the hidden zoo. There is more than just the animals here: We have science and education going on all the time, as well as conservation activity worldwide.” By taking a legislator, a schoolteacher, a researcher, a donor with her on her rounds, she can show these visitors and supporters what is unique and exciting about an animal. She believes this kind of education will persuade her guests to take an active role in preserving the natural habitats of these animals. “Once you’ve spent time with these animals, preserving their habitat turns from being an abstract idea to something tangible,” she said.

Spelman said she loves all facets of her job, although several have little to do with her veterinary training, like marketing, fund-raising, personnel management and finances. Spelman acknowledges that her learning curve has been steep, but that teamwork is the key.

“There’s an excellent support staff in place, and that’s why I was willing and able to take this position,” she said. “I don’t try to master the details of all the different aspects of the zoo’s inner workings. We have great people; I focus the team on the areas where I believe we can have the greatest impact and allow the individual staff members to do their jobs.”

She said there are various models for zoo administration. Depending on the organization, it makes sense for some zoo directors to come from the business side of the operation. At the National Zoo, though, it makes sense to have a veterinarian in charge, in part because the Smithsonian and the zoo’s support organization, Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ), administer the concessions and special events functions. This allows the director to focus on the exhibits, facilities, animals and the staff. In addition, the National Zoo is not in competition with other zoos. There is no admission fee because it’s federally funded.

“While generating additional revenue is important to reaching our long-term goals, it’s not the yardstick with which to measure our success,” said Spelman. “The expansion and diffusion of knowledge is our overall goal. Our priorities are driven by our talent, not necessarily by competitive market forces.”

The research that’s been done with the pandas has started to pay dividends for their wild counterparts and could have a major impact on the long-term preservation of the species. Taking advantage of the controlled zoo environment, scientists at National Zoo and San Diego Zoo have worked out the methodology to assay hormones in giant panda urine as well as in feces. Genetic studies are currently being conducted in collaboration with other scientists in the United States and China. Ultimately, these techniques may be used to analyze fecal samples from wild pandas, allowing researchers to determine the number of individuals and their relationships.

“This type of information could prove critical to managing wild giant pandas, where population numbers depend upon successful breeding and a healthy genetic pool,” said Spelman.

Spelman’s team has also made strides with several other animals. Recently, an international team of veterinarians successfully artificially inseminated a fifth Asian elephant, Shanti, at the National Zoo. The calf, Kandula, was born in November after a 22-month gestation, weighing in at 325 pounds. This elephant birth is considered key to sustaining this species in captivity, and the technique of artificial insemination holds great promise for Asian elephants, given that few zoos have a facility suitable to house a bull elephant.

Spelman and her team have taken their commitment to elephants one step further with plans for an expanded elephant facility. Included in a 10-year renewal plan for the zoo, which has many structures dating back to the early 1900s, is construction of a new elephant facility large enough for a small herd of elephant cows, youngsters and a male. The exhibit will be designed to support continued research into reproductive and conservation biology, while bringing people as close to elephants as possible at the zoo.

Setting the zoo’s priorities has been foremost among Spelman’s accomplishments. The 10-year plan also includes building new exhibits for the sloth bears, fishing cats and red pandas as well as rhinos, elephant, hippos, giraffes, seals and sea lions. She also hopes to expand the zoo’s outreach programs.

The plan also calls for the creation of a exhibit called Kid’s Farm, which was the dream of a House Republican. “We project 3 million visitors next year. In an urban area like this, many of those visitors have never seen a farm,” said Spelman. The educational exhibit will demonstrate the interrelated needs of producing food and preserving biologically diverse environments. It will also allow access to animals, which is especially significant for urban children. “You can touch a cow or a chicken, something you can’t do to a tiger.”

The common theme of the 10-year plan is to improve the animals’ quarters at the zoo while giving park visitors an up-close experience that may instill a desire to help preserve animals’ natural habitats in the wild. These goals can be diametrically opposed, since enlarging an animal’s living quarters can mean a greater distance between the animal and the zoo visitors. But Spelman said that, with proper planning, these goals can go hand in hand.

“This is a challenge for us, but it’s a challenge I enjoy,” said Spelman. “With proper planning there are ways for the public to get an enriching experience while the animals are in large natural settings. In one area of an exhibit, we can arrange to feed the animals in front of large glass windows and plan the feedings at times when lots of visitors are in the park. We can create play areas where the public can view the animals. It has to be done from the start, and that’s our focus with the new environments.”

One feature already added to the zoo that pleases both the zoo residents and its human visitors is a high wire that runs from tower to tower in the orangutan exhibit. “The orangutans love to walk across it,” Spelman said. “And it wows the crowd.”

While several construction projects are on her agenda, Spelman believes contraction rather than expansion may be the key to meeting her goals. “In the future I could see this zoo having 20 great exhibits rather than the 100 we currently have—concentrating on what we can do well. All of these exhibits would be world class in terms of animal comfort, visitor experience and research. “Ideally, they would all have an impact on the featured species in the wild.”

Tom Hall is a student adviser for the UC Davis Division of Biological Sciences.