Zoos are able to keep their animals alive longer than ever with improved husbandry and medical attention, according to this piece by Chicago Tribune reporter William Mullen.
Is this a good thing? What Mullen didn't have space to mention is that in addition to suffering from increasingly difficult humanlike geriatric problems--allergies, osteoperosis, arthritis, glaucoma--zoo animals are also fighting obesity because their natural diet often can't be replicated.
It has gotten so bad that at the Brookfield Zoo, staff nutritionist Jennifer Watts is "hatching a Weight Watchers-style plan for the beasts," reported AP medical writer Lindsey Tanner. "The idea is to assign points to food and allow the animals a limited number of extra points a week.
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