Reader polls on how institutions really handle animal deaths
There are about 800,000 animals[1] in AZA-accredited facilities alone, yet almost nothing is published on how keepers, vets and rehabbers handle aftercare day to day. These polls ask.
- Anonymous, one vote per person
- Written for keepers, vets and rehabbers
- Live results you can compare with research
Why we ask
Why we run polls for zoo and wildlife professionals
Research on pet aftercare is growing, but it's almost all about dogs and cats in family homes. We found very little on how a sea lion is handled after a necropsy, what a rehab center does with a hundred songbirds a season, or how keepers are supported when a 30-year resident dies. So we ask the people who know.
Each poll takes a few seconds. Votes are anonymous, and you can see the running totals straight away. Browse the full set below, answer the ones that fit your role, and come back to the live results page to see how others answered.
The first question we ask is simply where you work. It sounds like housekeeping, but it makes every other result easier to read. A keeper, a pathologist and a volunteer at a bear sanctuary see the same death from very different angles, and a rehabilitator handling dozens of small casualties a week has different priorities from a curator planning for one elderly elephant.
Browse every poll
How zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, rehabilitators and keepers of large exotics handle necropsy, records, logistics and remembrance.
Which best describes where you work with animals?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
After a death in your collection, how often is there a necropsy before aftercare?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
For your largest animals, what's the hardest part of aftercare?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How do you keep chain-of-custody records for remains?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
When a long-time animal dies, what support do the keepers get?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How should a zoo mark the death of an animal visitors loved?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How does your organization arrange aftercare today?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Which disease concern most shapes your aftercare decisions right now?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Read with care
How to read our poll results sensibly
These are reader polls, not surveys. The people who vote are whoever happens to visit, and a single busy week from one type of institution can tilt the numbers. Results are live and change as votes come in. We never report them as facts, and you shouldn't cite them as research in a grant or accreditation document.
What they're good for is a conversation starter. If a poll shows that many readers rely on a provider's certificate rather than their own records, that's a prompt to check your own process against the questions institutions should ask vendors.
We keep questions neutral on purpose. None of the options is presented as the right answer, and we avoid wording that nudges you toward a particular route or provider. If you think a question is unclear or missing an obvious option, tell us through the contact form and we'll consider rewording it.
Polls on process
Questions about necropsy, chain of custody and standing arrangements
Accredited zoos work to Standard 2.5.1[2], which expects deceased animals to be necropsied. But sanctuaries, private keepers and rehabilitators often can't reach a pathologist easily, and we wanted to know how often necropsy really happens outside the big institutions.
After a death in your collection, how often is there a necropsy before aftercare?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Records are the next question. Some teams log every hand-off in their animal records software; others rely on the provider's paperwork. Given how little regulation applies to pet crematories, the difference matters. Our provider questions page lists what a solid record looks like.
How do you keep chain-of-custody records for remains?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Polls on practicalities
Questions about heavy animals, capacity and disease rules
We ask what's hardest about aftercare for your largest animals because the answers vary so much. For a city zoo it might be getting a giraffe out of a barn without a public audience; for a rural sanctuary, finding any provider within a day's drive. The large-animal planner helps with the capacity side.
The disease poll reflects the moment. Avian influenza, chronic wasting disease and zoonoses each change what can be moved and how. We'll add questions as the picture changes.
Polls on remembrance
Questions about animals the public knew by name
Some animals outlive the keepers who first cared for them. Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise on St Helena, is thought to be about 194 years[3] old this year by our estimate, and long-lived zoo residents build the same kind of following on a smaller scale. When one dies, visitors who grew up with them want to know, and many want somewhere to go.
How should a zoo mark the death of an animal visitors loved?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
There's a tension here. A public event can feel right for a beloved elephant or gorilla, yet some keeper teams would rather grieve privately first. The answers to this poll show how readers balance the two. If you're planning something permanent, our guide to on-grounds memorial markers covers wording, materials and placement.
Polls on the human side
Questions about keeper grief and public memorials
Keepers grieve, often quietly. Research on pet loss in workplaces suggests support is thin: only 11%[4] of US employers offer paid leave for pet loss, and in one large UK survey 28.4%[5] of bereaved owners couldn't take time off at all. Those studies are about household pets, not zoo animals, which is exactly why we ask keepers directly.
If you want the published picture behind these questions, the RSPCA's pet bereavement survey and Harvard Health's summary of research on pet-loss grief are good places to start. By our estimate, roughly 7 in every 100 UK adults may have had a pet's death hit harder than any human loss[6]. None of that research studied keepers, which is the gap these polls try to fill; our article on supporting keepers after an animal dies turns it into practical steps. For the practical side of those losses, the services page and locations pages are the next stops.
When a long-time animal dies, what support do the keepers get?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
We also ask how a zoo should mark the death of an animal visitors loved. There's no single right answer, and the results help institutions see the range of approaches before they choose. Our guide to staff and donor-facing remembrances covers the options in practice.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
Which best describes where you work with animals?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How should a zoo mark the death of an animal visitors loved?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Which disease concern most shapes your aftercare decisions right now?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Questions people ask
Who can vote in these polls?
Anyone. They're written with keepers, veterinarians, curators, rehabilitators, sanctuary staff and private keepers of exotic animals in mind, and one poll asks your role so the results make more sense. There's no sign-up, and we don't collect names or institutions.
Can we cite your poll results in a report?
We'd rather you didn't treat them as evidence. They're open reader polls, not a random sample, and results change as votes arrive. For reports, accreditation files or grant applications, use the published research we cite on each page, and treat our polls as a sense of what peers are thinking.
Why are there general pet polls on this page too?
Some questions are the same whatever the animal, like how people want to remember a loss or whether they compared providers. Including a few general polls lets you see how institutional readers answer next to pet owners on the network's other sites.
Can we suggest a poll question?
Yes. Use the contact form and tell us what you'd like to know from other institutions. Questions about process, records, costs and the human side of animal loss are all welcome. We write every poll ourselves and keep them anonymous and neutral.
Why ask about disease in an aftercare poll?
Because disease rules often decide the route before anyone else gets a say. A bird death during an avian influenza outbreak, or a deer near a chronic wasting disease zone, may have to go through testing or approved disposal first. Knowing which concerns weigh most on readers helps us decide what to explain in more depth.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] About 800,000 animals from roughly 6,000 species, including about 1,000 threatened or endangered species, live in AZA-accredited facilities; AZA had 238 accredited zoos and aquariums in 2025. Wikipedia - Association of Zoos and Aquariums (citing AZA), 2025.
- [2] AZA accreditation Standard 2.5.1 says deceased zoo animals should be necropsied to find the cause of death, with all deceased animals (or a sample from a mass mortality) given a gross necropsy supported by histopathology at veterinary discretion. Association of Zoos and Aquariums - 2023 Accreditation Standards & Related Policies (Standard 2.5 Necropsy), as filed in Skagit County public record, 2023.
- [3] If Jonathan the tortoise hatched in 1832, he is about 194 years old in 2026. Our estimate: 2026 - 1832. How we calculate.
- [4] Only 11% of employers offer paid pet loss leave, according to an AbsenceSoft survey. AbsenceSoft — Understanding Pet Bereavement Leave and Its Importance to Today's Workforce, 2025.
- [5] 28.4% of RSPCA survey respondents could not take time off work after their pet died. RSPCA — Pet Loss Survey Results, 2026.
- [6] About 7 in every 100 UK adults may have had a pet's death hit harder than any human loss. Our estimate: 32.6% have lost a pet x 21% chose pet as most distressing. How we calculate.
Need options for a real case?
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.