Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has one of the county s oldest zoo nutrition departments, created in the late 1970s, supporting an active research program and nutrition lab (conducting both clinical, zoo-based and field-based studies) and a clinical program with two nutritionists responsible for the dietary management of the zoo collection. This course will be taught by both nutritionists. We will introduce comparative animal nutrition as it applies to animals in general and their management in a captive setting, with considerations for understanding wild populations. Primary topics will include an overview of nutrients and energy, digestive systems and metabolism, nutritional ecology and requirements, philosophy of diet formulation in a captive setting, considerations for in situ and ex situ nutrition research, and some practical applications to wildlife management, among other related subject matter.