Case Study: Dallas Zoo achieves round-the-clock elephant behavior insights and improved animal care with Microsoft Azure

The Dallas Zoo now knows what its elephants are really doing at night. You can, too

Dallas Zoo, a US nonprofit caring for more than 2,000 animals, faced a growing challenge: as exhibits became larger and more natural, traditional observation and video left gaps in understanding elephant movement, health, and social behavior. Staff needed continuous, accurate data to measure activity, spot illness early, and optimize habitat use—capabilities that spreadsheets and short-term recording couldn’t deliver.

Working with US Medical IT and the University of Texas startup community, the Zoo fitted elephants with RFID ankle bracelets and moved data into the Microsoft cloud (Azure SQL Data Warehouse and Power BI). The system pinpoints animals to about one meter, reveals patterns such as a herd average of 10 miles walked per day (with individuals up to 17 miles), shows social interactions and habitat preferences, supports multi-year analysis with external data (weather, attendance), and delivers real‑time dashboards to handlers and visitors—improving care, diagnostics, and planning while reducing IT overhead.

Dallas Zoo

Nancy Scott

Coordinator of Elephant Behavioral Science