Like most of us past our prime, Joice has slowed down through the years and her advancing age requires some vigilance. Though she still walks uphill, her pace is not as fast as it once was. And time has taken a toll on her hip joints, first the left side, and now the right, leading to stiffness, decreased flexibility, and range-of-motion issues. To strengthen the muscles around her hips, she does physical therapy daily and gets ibuprofen when the arthritis is really acting up.

Born on May 17, 1972, in Orange Park, Florida, 52-year-old Joice, a chimpanzee, is The Maryland Zoo’s oldest living mammal. Despite being 12-plus years past her life expectancy, Joice has been an integral part of the “troop” since she first arrived in 1995.

“She has good days and bad days,” says Ellen Bronson, the zoo’s senior director of animal health, conservation, and research. “When animals are aging, the goal is to have the good days far outweigh the bad.”

On this late August afternoon, the sun is shining, the crowds keep coming, and Joice seems to be living her best life. At the sight of her keepers, Erin Dombrowskie and Ruth Collier, she places herself at the center of the high-spirited troop—among them, there’s a young chimp named Lola and her mom, Violet, and a couple of fellow adults, Raven and Louie (at 29, they’re youngsters compared to Joice) and their daughter, Bunny—all of whom vie for a spot on the fence facing the groups of visiting two-legged animals with their own broods in tow.

Today, Dombrowskie is here to do physical therapy with Joice. Holding a dowl rod, she points to an upper part of the fence where she wants Joice to reach with her left leg. Hoisting her leg high in the air, and with her right foot still grasping the fence where it meets the ground, Joice eagerly obliges, extending her long limbs like some simian ballerina.

“Good,” says Dombrowskie, as she presses her training clicker to signal that Joice is about to be rewarded with walnuts and grapes dropped in through the mesh fencing.

A few minutes later, Dombrowskie taps Joice with the dowl in the center of her chest to elicit another behavior. This time Joice thrusts her chest and hips forward. Dombrowskie clicks again and another shower of snacks ensues, as the rest of the troop reaps the perks of the PT session.

These daily stretches, designed specifically for the aging chimp, have made a visible difference.

“The last time she was under anesthesia, we noticed that when she was laying on the table, she was no longer lying flat on her back with her legs up in the air [a sign of loss of range of motion], which is what we previously saw when we had her under anesthesia,” says Bronson. “She looked pretty close to what we see in other chimps. We were amazed by that— it’s having a direct effect.”

Due to a variety of factors, including protection from predators, disease, and weather, animals in “human-managed care” (the term “captivity” is no longer used at zoos) are living longer than their wild counterparts.

“They live longer because they don’t have to work for anything,” says Erin Grimm, curator of mammals at The Maryland Zoo. And within the past decade or so, animals in zoos across the United States are living even longer lives, thanks to new technology, top-quality health care, nutrition planning, enrichment activities, and even customized wellness programs for individual animals across the entirety of their lifespan.

And, much like the ways in which the aging human populace has influenced everything from social security to health care, elderly animals are impacting the zoo’s infrastructure. There are fewer spaces for breeding, because elderly animals are living in them. And all the zoo habitats need to be adaptable to every stage of an animal’s life.

“Animals living longer, healthier, happier lives is a trend we’ve been seeing for a long time, at least as far back as the ’80s,” says Dr. John Sykes, a Bronx Zoo veterinarian, who also serves as chair of the Animal Health Committee for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). “We are learning a lot more about how to care for them in their older years and how to keep animals happier and more comfortable for a longer period of time. That’s a great problem to have, but it does present us with new challenges. We have to think about how to care for the individuals and the populations as a whole—and sometimes those needs are synergistic and sometimes they are in conflict.”

At The Maryland Zoo, founded in 1876 and the third oldest zoological park in the United States, a significant number of the mega-fauna—that’s the term for large animals—are living well above the life expectancy for their species. Though zoo employees like to joke that the oldest living mammal is an animal specialist named Bill who has worked there since the 1960s, when it comes to the non-human mammals, there are quite a few geriatrics in their charge.

In addition to Joice, there’s Anna the African elephant, 49, and Caesar the reticulated giraffe, 18. (The median life expectancy for a female African elephant is 39.4 years, while the median age for a male giraffe is 15.1.) Other seniors include African elephants Felix and Tuffy, both born in the wild and estimated to be 41. There’s also Clyde, an elderly stork who is an estimated 36 years old (AZA lists the median life expectancy of a stork at 13.1 years), and a 64-pound spurred tortoise named Buttercup, who is estimated to be 58, thus earning her the title of the oldest animal at the zoo out of a population of some 1,300.

Although every animal—from macaws to millipedes—receives ongoing assessments, with so much of the zoo’s population living longer, geriatric care has become a big part of animal care. In that sense, it mimics human health care.

“We are trying to push the envelope on zoo medicine,” says associate veterinarian Andrea Aplasca, while standing in the zoo’s surgical suite in the on site animal hospital. “We have individualized plans for each animal. It’s a cool time in medicine, as we think about more advanced treatments or diagnostics.”

Following a trend in human medicine, veterinary medicine has become more specialized, too, allowing for more case-specific management as animals age.

“We are ready to take on almost anything, but there are board-certified specialists in zoological medicine now,” says Aplasca. “There are vets in cardiology, ophthalmology, internal medicine, surgery, similar to human fields—they’re an amazing resource.”

Zoo vets have reached out to human physicians to brainstorm on certain cases, too.

“We consult regularly with [Dr. Donna Magid,] a radiologist at Johns Hopkins,” says Bronson. “She’s worked with vets at the zoo for over three decades. Her expertise is helpful for assessing chimpanzee and other primate X-rays.”

“WE ARE BASICALLY THE JOHNS HOPKINS OF ANIMAL CARE.”

New advances include using on-site diagnostic tools such as ultrasounds and echocardiograms. For advanced diagnostics such as CT and MRI scans, the zoo partners with local medical facilities. (If an animal is small enough, it is taken off-site; if not, the scans are brought in.)

“We are basically the Johns Hopkins of animal care,” sums up Mike Evitts, the zoo’s senior director of marketing and communications.

On another August day, Joey Golden, the zoo’s curator of animal behavior programs, peers out over the newly expanded elephant area known as the Savanna Overlook, where Anna the African savanna elephant is relaxing and middle-aged Tuffy shows his trainers various parts of his body, including his mouth and feet, as part of a daily check-in.

Golden’s primary job is to observe—and monitor—the animals and their interactions with their environment. Golden, along with the zoo staff, tracks the behaviors of many of the animals in the zoo’s collection, from waste output to hours of sleep to where in their habitat they hang out. Organizing his observations into graphs and heat maps, everything becomes a data point.

“I try to track everything from the temperature to the number of tickets we sell every day,” says Golden, who shares his data with animal care teams. “I look at where the grizzlies spend their time when we are closed to the public versus on a day we sell 2,000 tickets, for example. The nice thing about behavior is that it’s the common language.”

For certain animals, remote cameras operating at night give additional information. Margaret Rose-Innes, the zoo’s general curator, says that 24-hour monitoring is a relatively new tool that has proven to be very useful.

“Having all this historical data that we can then go back to and look at is so helpful. Their behavior lets us know what direction to take.”

Like other large mammals, including giraffes, Anna’s size—at last weigh-in she was 7,830 pounds—makes her prone to joint and hoof or foot issues, especially as she loses muscle density with age. As part of Anna’s care in her advancing years, with the help of video, the elephant team might look at the quality of her sleep from the night before.

“If she had a rough night and she’s stiff, or if it’s muddy and it has rained, they might scale back on activities or they might not take her up to the marsh yard,” says Golden. “They’re constantly planning.”

The video might also help inform an exercise plan. “I can pull up video of Anna walking a decade ago,” says Golden, “and then we can compare it to a video of her walking today and we can say, ‘There seems to be a bit more stiffness in that front right leg, maybe we can talk to hospital staff about adding physical therapy components.’ That baseline data is important because they allow us to see change over the course of the lifetime.”

Meanwhile, across the zoo in the giraffe area, the sleep cycle of 16-foot-tall Caesar, who has arthritis in his joints, is monitored every night.

“The keepers log what side of his body he’s resting on,” says Golden. “They log how many times he lies down or the duration of the rest. I’m able to pull up a graph that will show how much he slept on, say, July 9, 2023, and how that compares to July 9, 2024.”

To keep his joints well-lubricated, Caesar is regularly injected with anti-inflammatory medications and takes joint supplements orally to help with mobility. He gets pain medication as needed and sometimes the staff needs to alter his habitat.

“Just like people with arthritis, there are medications you can give to make him more comfortable,” says Rose-Innes. “If he’s not lying down much, do we want to give him logs to lie against so he can prop himself up? As giraffes get older, they might lie down for shorter periods of time and they might sleep standing up, so we need to change the kind of surfaces we are giving him. We are looking at installing a new soft surface inside of the giraffe pens to help with that.”

Having aging animals as part of the population presents a new set of creative challenges for the zoo staff. Exhibit A, giving injections. Not all animals submit to injections, but it’s the preferred method, the animal version of “consent.” If that’s impossible, the animal is sedated. To avoid sedation, Caesar has been trained to voluntarily come to the fence and lean in for his injections.

“He doesn’t travel around his space as much as he used to, but otherwise his mental clarity and acuity is normal,” says Amy Botke, who has worked with Caesar for 13 years and says she “loves everything about him.” “We give him toys that he enjoys and he wants to immediately bop them with his face.”

Caesar does injection training even on days he’s not getting an injection. On this day, Caesar is in fine form as he struts toward the fence, where Botke dons a bucket on her hip that’s brimming with lettuce leaves and chunks of apples. She holds a long stick with a blue rubber ball affixed to the end. She also wears a whistle.

From time to time, another trainer rubs Caesar’s hindquarter with a bristly brush in the spot where the injection will go to desensitize him from being touched in that area.

“He knows he has to keep his nose on that ball, so he has learned a hold-still behavior,” explains curator Grimm. “The whistle tells him he did what she asked him to do. He understands that every time that whistle blows, it’s paired with a snack.”

Caesar has also been assessed by a physical therapist who has recommended strength- and mobility-enhancing exercises. “Basically, he needs to learn to walk in a serpentine pattern so his hips can move across the exhibit to help him turn and use those back legs,” says Grimm.

In this case, you can teach an old giraffe new tricks. “Despite his age, he’s still willing to learn a new behavior,” Botke says. “He’s up for anything.”

For all the interventions to improve and extend life, end-of-life discussions are also a part of the planning.

“Euthanasia is one of the hardest things we have to do,” says Bronson, “but it’s also one of the best things we can do. I’m so grateful I can do that for animals, because we don’t allow animals to go through the suffering that humans have to go through at the end. Vets don’t have an easier time with that than animal owners.”

While many animals at the zoo die a natural death, knowing the right time to euthanize weighs heavily on the staff, many of whom have worked with the animals for years. And once an animal hits a certain age, the vets set up quality-of-life checks and touch base with keepers and curators.

With Anna, for example, there have been instances where she has slipped and fallen.

“If she can’t get back up, she’s in a tough position,” says Bronson of the nearly four-ton elephant. “We have teams here who can pick her back up, then we watch her carefully to see if she’s healing or has any internal stuff going on. We’re not saying we would choose to end her life, but we want to make sure that everyone is prepared for those conversations.” (Sadly, two months after we visited the zoo, Anna, who had multiple medical issues, was, in fact, euthanized after a fall.)

Bronson says caring for the zoo’s animals from beginning to end is one of the many perks of the profession.

“I’ve known so many of them as babies,” she says. “When they took their first tumbles, I patched them up. I’ve been there when they’ve had their own offspring, and then I’ve been there with them at the very end. It’s very hard, but it’s also a wonderful thing to be able to do, accompanying the animal through its entire life.”

Is your kid’s idea of fun brushing a baby goat? Or do they really dig dinosaurs? Perhaps they prefer practicing kickflips or traversing hiking trails. Whether your child is into Picasso or planets, skipping rocks or riding roller coasters, there is something for every interest, every age, and every family in the Baltimore area.

For Rachel Zillig, a mom of two in Baltimore County, the pandemic had a huge impact on her family’s activities. With libraries, museums, and just about every other kid-friendly place shut down, “We had to seek out other stuff or we’d have gone insane just sitting in the house,” says Zillig, whose Instagram account, @BaltimoreFamilyFun, details their adventures in the area. Now that most places have opened back up, she’s looking forward to visiting old favorites like Port Discovery and the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, but she’s not giving up the local parks and outdoor activities they enjoyed during COVID-19. “Just walking around the Inner Harbor during the day is a fun activity for my kids. They love looking at the boats.”

If your family has a particular place you love to visit again and again, consider purchasing a membership. The pandemic had a devastating impact on the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector, with nearly 60 percent of museums forced to cut back on education, programming, and other public services, according to Artnet News.

But things are looking up, with plenty of Baltimore regional destinations open and ready to safely do business. Check out our guide to find out what’s happening at new and old family favorites throughout the region this summer.

PORT DISCOVERY CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
35 Market Pl., Baltimore, MD 21202.
Three floors of interactive exhibits and settings for imaginative play will keep toddlers and preschoolers entertained for hours. Kids ages 5-12 can build confidence and motor skills as they scale the multi-story SkyClimber. This always-changing museum is “huge but never seems crowded,” says Zillig, whose family’s favorites include the replica Royal Farms, a delightfully realistic pretend diner, and a water playroom. (Pro tip: bring a change of clothes!)

THE NATIONAL AQUARIUM
501 E Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21202.
No matter how many times you visit the Aquarium, there’s always something new to see. You could spend an entire day searching for the sloths in the tropical rainforest or being mesmerized by all the different kinds of jellyfish. With more than 20,000 aquatic creatures, an enormous shark tank, and hands-on exhibits, kids will be educated and entertained every time. Note: strollers are not permitted.

MARYLAND SCIENCE CENTER
601 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21230.
Come for the dinosaurs, stay for the interactive science exhibits. Kids can create their own inventions, lie on a bed of nails, learn about the human body, and experience the electromagnetic spectrum through light and prisms. Don’t miss the planetarium, rooftop observatory, and IMAX theater, too.

THE MARYLAND ZOO
1 Safari Pl., Baltimore, MD 21217.
From the perky prairie dogs to the gentle giraffes to the cheeky chimpanzees, this world-class zoo is home to more than 1,500 amazing animals—including the largest African penguin breeding colony in North America. Your wild things can run amok along the shady paved paths and ride the new zero emissions electric shuttles back to the free parking lot when they’re tired.

BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
10 Art Museum Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218.
There’s more to the BMA than the Cone Collection’s Matisses and Monets. Kids who like dollhouses will adore the Cheney Miniatures Gallery, and the museum’s African art collection features 2,500
masks, textiles, and other works from more than 200 cultures. Indoor voices are not required to explore the outdoor sculpture garden. Currently, reservations are required for free admission. Strollers and front baby carriers are permitted in the museum.

LAKE ROLAND PARK & NATURE CENTER
1000 Lakeside Dr., Baltimore, MD, 21210.
The Lake Roland Dam is the focal point of this 500-acre sanctuary in the middle of Baltimore. Popular among pet owners for its fenced-in Paw Point dog park (membership required), Lake Roland features a unique playground, a new nature center, various hiking and biking trails, and a boardwalk from the Falls Road Light Rail station. Stop by Tropicool Italian Ice afterward for a sweet treat.

OREGON RIDGE PARK & NATURE CENTER
13555 Beaver Dam Rd., Cockeysville, MD 21030.
This 1000-plus-acre park is a great place to burn off energy. It features several playgrounds, picnic areas, plenty of trails ranging from easy to challenging, and a quarry where you can skip rocks and watch the ducks. Several animal enclosures house bunnies, geese, chickens and more, and the nature center hosts educational events and storytimes.

LADEW TOPIARY GARDENS
3535 Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton, MD 21111.
Unicorn-shaped shrubs, windows carved into hedges, koi ponds, an enchanting teahouse, butterfly house, and gift shop are just some of the delights you’ll find here, along with 22 acres of space to run wild and enjoy nature. Admission required; children under two are free.

RASH FIELD PARK
300 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD 21230.
Baltimore’s newest park opened last November in the heart of the Inner Harbor. Kids can clamber up a pair of 35-foot wooden towers in the Adventure Park, slip down a giant slide, soar on the swings, dig in the sand pit, or bring their board and drop into the skate park.

THE GO-KART TRACK
10907 Pulaski Hwy., White Marsh, MD 21162.
Feel the need for speed? With three different go-kart tracks, a mini-golf course (half price on weekdays), and all the classic arcade games, there’s something for everyone here. Kids aged 3 and up can join a driver age 16+ on the Family Track, and speed demons at least 52” tall can drop the pedal to the medal on the Drift Track.

SKATEPARK OF BALTIMORE
1121 W 36th St., Baltimore, MD 21211.
Got a budding skateboarder or trick scooter rider? Strap on your pads and helmet and hit this Hampden hotspot. It’s free and open daily from dawn to dusk. If you need some new grip tape, Vu Skate Shop is just around the corner on Falls Road.

EASTERN WATERSPORTS
4001 Bay Dr., 7200 Graces Quarters Rd., and 7400 Graces Quarters Rd., Middle River, MD 21220.
You don’t have to drive to Annapolis or Ocean City to get a taste of salt life. With three locations, two within Gunpowder Falls State Park and two with legitimate sandy beaches, this seasonal shop rents kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and canoes by the hour. Children under 10 can accompany a parent or guardian on a tandem kayak or paddleboard. Kids 10 and up can rent their own with a renting adult.

SPLASH PADS
Multiple locations.
Looking to cool down and get wet on a hot day, no pool membership required? Baltimore City is home to several splash pads, including at West Shore Park in the Inner Harbor, Mt. Vernon Children’s Park, and The Rotunda. Visit BaltimoreFamilies.org/pools for locations.

BALTIMORE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY “STORYVILLE”
There’s more to the library than storytime. Storyville, located at Baltimore County Public Library’s Rosedale and Woodlawn branches, is a play-and-learn center designed to promote early literacy and school-readiness skills in children ages 0-5. This enchanting child-sized village features books, toys, and activities for tots and their parents or caregivers.

DUTCH WONDERLAND
2249 Lincoln Hwy. E, Lancaster, PA 17602.
This amusement park in Amish country is extremely popular with young families for a reason. The 48-acre layout is accessible, not overwhelming, and the rides are geared toward little kids. Duke’s Lagoon is a water park within the park that’s worth a visit all on its own.

HERSHEYPARK
100 Hersheypark Dr., Hershey, PA 17033.
Thrillseekers throng to this family theme park, created by the famous chocolatier Milton S. Hershey, which features tons of rides, including 15 roller coasters. There are plenty of attractions for the littler set, too. The one-price admission includes all the rides, the water park, and ZooAmerica.

SIX FLAGS AMERICA
13710 Central Ave., Bowie, MD 20721.
Six Flags is home to some of the fastest, tallest, wildest rides in the country, including Firebird, billed as “America’s only floorless roller coaster.” Younger kids can enjoy at least a dozen rides all by themselves. Admission includes access to the Hurricane Harbor waterpark, featuring an 800,000-gallon wave pool and 25 water slides.

KINGS DOMINION
16000 Theme Park Way, Doswell, VA 23047.
Got tweens and teens? Take a three-hour drive to this amusement park near Richmond. Already home to 13 roller coasters, the park will introduce Tumbili, a brand-new, 4D spin coaster, as part of its new-in-2022 immersive Jungle X-pedition. For the little ones, there’s Planet Snoopy. Admission includes access to the Soak City waterpark.

GROWN UP DINING, KID APPROVED

Dining out with kids doesn’t have to be expensive or stressful if you choose one of these family-friendly eateries, offering everything from pizza to medieval feasts.

R. HOUSE
301 W. 29th St., Baltimore, MD 21211.
Food courts and food halls, like this one located in Remington, are great options for dining with kids for a few reasons. First, there’s something for even the pickiest eater. Choose from 10 stalls offering a variety of fare, from pizza and fried chicken sandwiches to poké bowls and Korean BBQ. Second, the kids can be as loud as they like, and there’s room to stretch your legs when sitting at a table gets tiresome.

BELVEDERE SQUARE MARKET
529 E Belvedere Ave., Baltimore, MD 21212.
More than a food market, this North Baltimore hotspot near The Senator Theatre is a great place to dine indoors or out at any time of day. Food vendors include Atwater’s, Ejji Ramen, Plantbar, and The Pizza Trust. The Square hosts a Friday night concert series during the summer months.

STONE MILL BAKERY & CAFE
10751 Falls Rd. Suite 123, Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093.
If you’re shopping at Greenspring Station or have a kids’ sporting event across the street at Meadowood Regional Park, pop into this bustling cafe for refreshments. Choose from salads, soups, sandwiches, and unparalleled sugar cookies. If the weather’s nice, sit outside by a babbling brook and let the kids climb on the stone turtles.

JASON’S DELI
8874 McGaw Rd., Columbia, MD 21045.
With menus for kids, vegetarians, and gluten-sensitive diners, this reasonably priced chain has long been a favorite for families. (The free ice cream doesn’t hurt!) Sadly, the Timonium location closed during COVID, but the Columbia restaurant is open for business.

MEDIEVAL TIMES
7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, MD 21076.
If you dread family dinners or just want something different, there’s nothing like a meal and a show set in a medieval Spanish “castle.” Feast on turkey legs–or a surprisingly tasty vegetarian option–as you watch knights on horseback jousting for a fair maiden’s hand. Yes, it’s a bit sexist and over-the-top, but the spectacle is part of the fun. If you’re looking to get your kids off screens and into a real-life adventure, this is it.