Related Papers
New Approaches to the Evaluation of Zoo Animal Well-Being Using Multiple Institutions, Assessment of Behavior and Temperament, and Non-Invasive Physiological Measures
David Shepherdson
Measuring zoo animal welfare: Theory and practice
Donald M Broom
The assessment of animal welfare relates to investigations of how animals try to cope with their environment, and how easy or how difficult it is for them to do so. The use of rigorous scientific methods to assess this has grown over the past few decades, and so our understanding of the needs of animals has improved during this time. Much of the work in the field of animal welfare has been conducted on farm animals, but it is important to consider how the methods and approaches used in assessing farm animal welfare have been, and can be, adapted and applied to the measurement of welfare in animals in other domains, such as in zoos. This is beneficial to our understanding of both the theoretical knowledge, and the practicability of methods. In this paper, some of the commonly-used methods for measuring animal welfare will be discussed, as well as some practical considerations in assessing the welfare of zoo animals.
Zoo Biology
Introduction to the special issue on zoo animal welfare
2009 •
Nadja Wielebnowski
Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
Advances in Applied Zoo Animal Welfare Science
Samantha Ward
Applied Animal Behaviour Science
New directions for zoo animal welfare science
2013 •
Jessica Whitham
Programmatic Approaches to Assessing and Improving Animal Welfare in Zoos and Aquariums
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PsyArXiv
Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, and Animal Welfare: A History of Behavior Analysis in Zoos (Preprint)
2021 •
Eduardo J Fernandez
The modern zoo has been associated with two major behavioral welfare advances: (a) the use of training to increase voluntary husbandry care, and (b) the implementation of environmental enrichment to promote naturalistic behaviors. Both practices have their roots in behavior analysis, or the operant conditioning-centered, reward-based approach to behavioral psychology. Operant conditioning served as the foundation for the development of reinforcement-based training methods commonly used in zoos to make veterinary and husbandry procedures easier and safer for animals and their caregivers. Likewise, operant conditioning, with its focus on arranging environmental antecedents and consequences to change behavior, also provided a framework for successful environmental enrichment practices. In this paper, we outline the key individuals and events that shaped two of the cornerstones of the modern zoo: (1) the emergence of reward-based husbandry training practices, and (2) the engineering of environmental enrichment. In addition, we (3) suggest ways in which behavior analysis can continue to advance zoo welfare by (i) expanding the efficacy of environmental enrichment, (ii) using within-subject methodology, and (iii) improving animal-visitor interactions. Our goal is to provide a historical and contextual reference for future efforts to improve the well-being of zoo animals.
Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens
Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, and Animal Welfare: A History of Behavior Analysis in Zoos
2021 •
Eduardo J Fernandez
The modern zoo has been associated with two major behavioral welfare advances: (a) the use of training to increase voluntary husbandry care, and (b) the implementation of environmental enrichment to promote naturalistic behaviors. Both practices have their roots in behavior analysis, or the operant conditioning-centered, reward-based approach to behavioral psychology. Operant conditioning served as the foundation for the development of reinforcement-based training methods commonly used in zoos to make veterinary and husbandry procedures easier and safer for animals and their caregivers. Likewise, operant conditioning, with its focus on arranging environmental antecedents and consequences to change behavior, also provided a framework for successful environmental enrichment practices. In this paper, we outline the key individuals and events that shaped two of the cornerstones of the modern zoo: (1) the emergence of reward-based husbandry training practices, and (2) the engineering of environmental enrichment. In addition, we (3) suggest ways in which behavior analysis can continue to advance zoo welfare by (i) expanding the efficacy of environmental enrichment, (ii) using within-subject methodology, and (iii) improving animal-visitor interactions. Our goal is to provide a historical and contextual reference for future efforts to improve the well-being of zoo animals.
Zoo Biology
Animal-based welfare monitoring: using keeper ratings as an assessment tool
2009 •
Jessica Whitham
ON COMPARING THE BEHAVIOUR OF ZOO HOUSED ANIMALS WITH WILD CONSPECIFICS AS A WELFARE INDICATOR
Jake S Veasey
Animal Welfare 1996, 5: 13-24 It is commonly assumed that animals suffer if they cannot perform behaviours seen in wild conspecifics. Although comparisons with the behaviour of wild conspecifics are a popular method of assessing the welfare of captive animals, their validity has not been fully assessed. Homeostatic models of motivation suggest that many behaviours are stimulus driven rather than internally generated. Thus, it is possible that the non-peiformance of some wild-type behaviours does not necessarily compromise animal welfare, unless welfare is defined as being compromised by such non-peiformance. The flexibility of wild animal behaviour and the fact that animals free to peiform the complete range of wild behaviours can suffer, must also put into the question the validity of such compansons. Technical criticisms also anse when one considers the difficulty of constructing accurate and unbiased time budgets for wild animals. It is possible that the expressions of wild-type behaviours correlate with enhanced welfare, rather than cause enhanced welfare. Thus, if the consequences of behaviour are more important than the expression of behaviour itself, environmental enrichment does not necessarily need to rely upon the performance of wild-type behaviours for the improvement of animal welfare. Therefore, although behavioural comparisons with wild animals can be considered as potentially useful indicators of behavioural differences, they cannot always be relied upon to give an objective assessment of animal welfare. To make an assessment of welfare, behavioural comparisons with wild animals should be used in conjunction with other techniques to demonstrate that the consequences of non-peiformance of wild behaviours results in impoverished welfare.
