Not every zoo has a wildlife nutritionist.
"Some think that's just an extra expense," says Francis Cabana, a wildlife nutritionist with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).
"Some think that someone else — a zookeeper — can do a nutritionist's job. Or [a] veterinarian can do a nutritionist job. And some just don't see the importance, which is the saddest reason of all, I think."
Cabana's job, in a nutshell, is to provide the over 15,000 animals in the four parks under WRS — Singapore Zoo, River Safari, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park — with nutritious food.
As with humans, good nutrition in animals prevents diseases like diabetes, kidney issues, and cavities, as well as weight problems.
And while it might be impossible to recreate the diet that animals have in the wild, it is wholly possible to recreate the nutrients required in their meals.
Picky animals at WRS
"Let me tell you something about Wildlife Reserves Singapore. I have never felt so rejected in a zoo in my life," says Cabana, over a video call with Mothership.
"These animals are the pickiest animals I've worked with as far in my career. And I mean that in the best possible way, because it means that they get everything they want!"
Animals in WRS have access to such a wide variety of good food that when Cabana tried to change their diet and make it healthier — more often than not, removing things that actually taste very good — they're not impressed.
Cabana with his team at Wildlife Reserves Singapore in October 2019. Image courtesy of WRS.
The trick, says Cabana, is to introduce new elements in their food slowly. The smarter the animal, the slower you have to do it.
For instance, when Cabana and his team wanted to change the diet of the Orang Utans, swapping out chicken, rice, Milo, and bread for vegetables and beans, it took four months.
"Because we had to go, like, so slow. Every week we would change five per cent of the diet."
Going slow doesn't mean that the animals don't notice the difference. Cabana says that the Orang Utans would look at their keepers with puppy eyes, begging for their Milo and sweet fruits.
"So these keepers have to be so mentally strong to resist these cute animals that they love. But this is master manipulation. It's because these animals are so brilliant, they're so smart."
Orang Utans munching on sugarcane. Image courtesy of WRS.
Never-ending journey of learning and reviewing animal diets
Cabana calls his work a "never-ending journey", having to constantly review diets because of new research being done all the time.
In fact, that's the main draw of his work, he says.
"My favourite thing about being a nutritionist is that I can and I will learn for the rest of my life," says the self-proclaimed geek.
"I will never know everything about nutrition for all the animals, it's impossible. So it keeps me really motivated that I will learn something new every day. And not just read something, but I will actually [be] able to learn something by doing it and then seeing the outcome myself."
Cabana in March earlier this year with a jar of pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds are full of zinc which are good for an orang utan's immune system. Image via WRS.
A lot of his work has to do with communicating with keepers and animal curators to find out not just about the conditions of the animals, but also how they're doing, and how their lives can be more enriched.
This is also a challenge for Cabana, as there is no universal guide for feeding wild animals.
If the zoo receives a bongo (an African forest antelope), for instance, a nutritionist has to do a lot of research to better understand the animal's dietary habits. What is its digestive system like? What does it eat in the wild? What nutrients does it need?
The job of a nutritionist is then to put together a diet plan that consists of the required nutrients, and to package the different foods into tasty and attractive meals.
Even individuals of the same species may not react to the same food the same way. Take for example Kai Kai and Jia Jia, the two Giant Pandas at the River Safari.
Kai Kai isn't a picky eater. "He eats his bamboo, his bamboo shoots, his pellets. He's just not picky," says Cabana.
Jia Jia, on the other hand, knows what she wants (or doesn't want).
"When she gets bamboo she will look through the leaves and pick out and just bite the leaves that she wants. And some days she's just not in the mood."
Kai Kai, one of the two Giant Pandas in WRS, isn't a picky eater. Image courtesy of WRS.
Trying to figure out what food attracts an animal requires a lot of experimentation, and sometimes, frankly bizarre solutions.
Over the course of his career, Cabana has found a rather strange method of whetting the appetite of reptiles. Reptiles, he says, usually feed on mice.
"If you open their heads and you expose the brain, it just drives these reptiles insane. There's something about the smell, and they just go straight for it. So I think the weirdest thing I've ever fed was mouse brain."
Cabana says that he is most proud of his work with pangolins. Notoriously picky, pangolins feed mainly on Weaver ants and termites.
"So there's something in [ants and termites] that makes them realise, 'Hey, this is food! This is tasty!' and we don't know what that is yet."
However, Weaver ants are farmed mainly in Indonesia and Thailand, making it quite a rare commodity. And so Cabana and his team have to work hard to recreate a diet with a nutritional value similar to their ant diet.
It's still an ongoing project. Cabana and his 13-man team of nutritionists have been conducting palatability studies, mixing "anything and everything" into the diets of the pangolins at the Night Safari, in order to find out what exactly entices them to eat. They have even tried including pineapples, based on a study of echidnas in Australia.
So has the team found the magic ingredient for its pangolins?
"As soon as I find out, I'll tell you!" Cabana laughs.
A pangolin at WRS. Image courtesy of WRS.
Six tonnes of food processed daily
As you can imagine, feeding so many animals requires a lot of food — six and a half tonnes daily, to be exact. That's about three lorries full.
"It includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, dry feed (like pellet, leaves, grass), meat, and fish."
Most of the fruits and vegetables that WRS prepares for its animals come from Malaysia.
And so, when Malaysia went into lockdown in March, Cabana had quite a headache.
"You know, the first day that Malaysia announced its [Movement Control Order], I did not sleep for a week," Cabana quips, adding that it was hard to get confirmation that the fruits and vegetable supplies would continue to come in each day.
"So every morning was like will the sun rise or will it just never rise? We didn't know what would happen," he said, grimacing.
The Wildlife Nutrition team chopping up food for their animals. Image courtesy of WRS.
Vegetables being prepared. Image courtesy of WRS.
Frozen chicken being prepared by the team. Image courtesy of WRS.
Thankfully, save for a few minor disruptions, the fruits and vegetables continued to arrive daily.
However, even if things had gone south, Cabana would have you know that WRS has at least six back up plans involving supplies from different countries like Myanmar, China, and Indonesia.
"I think the biggest change is that now I call my suppliers every day or every two days to be sure everything is okay," he says with a twinkle in his eye.
"So they probably think I'm harassing them, but my priority is to make sure that food comes in, so I'm going to continue to harass them."
Speaking of a lockdown, the WRS nutrition team has still been going to work, albeit in split shifts with reduced manpower, even though the parks are closed to visitors for the time being.
The animals still have to eat, after all.
Loading up food to be sent to the animals. Image courtesy of WRS.
Having less manpower does require some compromises.
The team has less time to do research projects and monitoring of animals' body condition because they are now 100 per cent focused on food preparation, says Cabana.
"Once the split team (arrangement) is over, and we're back to our normal manpower, then we can resume all these really cool activities that they enjoy doing."
Talking about his nutrition team, Cabana has nothing but praises ("They're like machines!") for the folks who assist him in preparing food for the animals.
"These people are super robots. They will take sweet potatoes, carrot and like cha cha cha! Masterchef-style and chop everything — perfect size, perfect cube — in the exact amount that the animals need. It's amazing. And they know exactly what needs to be cut. And then they put the food inside a different lunchbox so every animal has a different lunchbox."
In fact, meeting his entire team is one of the things that Cabana misses the most, aside from his regular kopi si kosong at the zoo's Inuka Cafe.
Reducing food waste
Dealing with so much food every day means that there is a large amount of waste.
But Cabana is determined to change this.
Black Soldier Flies
In 2019, his team was able to reduce food waste by 49 per cent, and they have plans to bring that figure up to 75 per cent. They do this by ensuring that animals are not given excess food, and by using Black Soldier Flies to convert their waste into compost.
Check out how Black Soldier Flies help transform food waste at this insect farm in Singapore:
And then there are those branches and leaves that animals discard from their food. 250kg of these are left over every day. Cabana's team started to put them into a chipper to produce wood chips that are used for animal bedding.
'Ugly' food
In a bid to do their part of food sustainability, the wildlife nutrition team has also been procuring 'ugly' food — fruits and vegetables that are not pretty, but edible nonetheless.
Aside from helping to prevent food waste, the use of 'ugly' food is more affordable and sustainable in the long run.
"So those are some of the things that we're trying, but this is a journey and I hope that I'll have brilliant ideas in the future. If you have some, please let me know!"
As we conclude our chat, we ask Cabana if he has a few words for our readers:
"I want to say 'thank you so much for your support.' I can say this with 100 per cent certainty that we all miss you very much. It's a very strange feeling going to the zoo and there's no visitors, there's no one there.
Because, although we do a lot of great stuff for the conservation of animals, we're only one part of it. Another part of it is you. It's the Singaporeans and the tourists that come and visit and support us.
So I thank you in advance for the support you've given us, and for the support you will continue to give. And remember to eat less sugar!"
Top images courtesy of WRS.
Stories of Us is a series about ordinary people in Singapore and the unique ways they’re living their lives. Be it breaking away from conventions, pursuing an atypical passion, or the struggles they are facing, these stories remind us both of our individual uniqueness and our collective humanity.