Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license... more Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license of zoos and aquariums. The lack of consensus on how animal welfare is defined across such a diverse sector combined with and a widespread belief that commercial priorities such as entertaining visitors conflicts with animal welfare, hinders efforts to effectively address this fundamental issue for the sector. Data derived from an audit of habitats across a major North American wildlife attraction revealed that holistic animal welfare assessments undertaken by animal carers embracing three principal constructs of animal welfare, correlated strongly with visitor perceptions of animal happiness. Visitor assessments of animal happiness also correlated with animal carer assessments of social, behavioural and locomotor opportunities and inversely with the prevalence of stereotypic behaviours, supporting the proposition that folk conceptions of animal welfare are more accurate than may have previously been considered to be the case. However, the holistic animal welfare assessment inversely correlated with assessments of a habitat's capacity to safeguard welfare as determined by the facility's veterinary staff, supporting the proposition that tensions exist between physical and psychological components of captive animal welfare provisioning. This further underlines the importance of clarity on how animal welfare is conceived when developing institutional animal welfare strategies. Finally, the data also showed that both holistic animal welfare assessments and visitor perceptions of animal happiness strongly correlated with the level of enjoyment experienced by visitors, challenging the belief that animal welfare competes with the commercial priorities of zoos and aquariums. The audit supports the case that maintaining high animal welfare is a commercial imperative as well as a moral obligation for zoos and aquariums and underlines the necessity to utilize conceptions of animal welfare that acknowledge the centrality of the affective states of animals in maintaining those standards.
Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feeling... more Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feelings of animals which are currently impossible to measure directly. As a result, animal welfare assessment is heavily reliant upon the indirect measurement of factors that either affect what animals feel, or are effected by how they feel. Physiological and health orientated measures have emerged as popular metrics for assessing welfare because they are quantifiable, can effect and be affected by how animals feel and have merits regardless of their relationship to the feelings of animals. However, their popularity in animal welfare assessment has led to them having a disproportionate influence on animal management to the detriment of animal welfare in numerous instances. Here, the case is made that a tension exists between management that prioritizes aspects of care reflecting popular animal welfare metrics such as those relating to physical health, and management that emphasizes psychologic...
13 Managing Captive Mammals in Mixed-Species Communities Jake Veasey and Gabriele Hammer INTRODUC... more 13 Managing Captive Mammals in Mixed-Species Communities Jake Veasey and Gabriele Hammer INTRODUCTION The first step in ... have shown considerable in-terspecific play between juvenile primates (Freeman and Al-cock) carnivores (Curry-Lindahl) and ...
The welfare of elephants is an enormous challenge for zoos in terms of animalnhusbandry, financia... more The welfare of elephants is an enormous challenge for zoos in terms of animalnhusbandry, financial cost and public perception. This chapterrs aim is not to discussnwhether elephants should be held in captivity: resolving this issue would involve soundndata on the costs and benefits of keeping them in zoos, and reconciling the diverse ethicalnbeliefs of different people. Instead, we review how animal welfare is assessednscientifically; discuss what is known...
It is commonly assumed that animals suffer if they cannot perform behaviours seen in wild conspec... more 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. ...
For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical he... more For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical health of animals evidenced by enhanced longevity for numerous taxa in captivity. However, the potential benefits to physical health that captivity can bring to wild animals frequently comes at the expense of their psychological wellbeing; the more control and oversight humans have over animals and their environment, the better placed they are to protect their physical well- being, but the less free animals are to experience species appropriate psychological opportunities. A mechanism capable of identifying the relative welfare significance of behaviours and cognitive process would allow zoo designers and managers to focus resources where they will have the great- est impact on welfare and to more effectively balance the psychological and physical needs of man- aged animals necessary to deliver peak welfare. This is likely to be one of the most fertile fields for advancing zoo animal welfare in the coming years. Here a novel methodology is outlined that has been developed to identify behavioural and cognitive priorities that should form the foundation of both habitat design principles, as well as subsequent management strategies.
The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation cha... more The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation challenges in the wild and welfare challenges in captivity. This poses an ethical dilemma for the zoo community and supports the case that there is a need to reconsider prevailing management paradigms for these species in captivity. Whilst the welfare challenges wide ranging carnivores face have been attributed to reduced ranging opportunities associated with the decreased size of captive habitats, attempts to augment wild carnivore welfare in captivity typically focus on behaviours linked to hunting. Thus far, this has yet to result in the systematic elimination of signs of compromised welfare amongst captive carnivores. Here an assessment is carried out to identify the likely welfare priorities for Amur tigers, which, as one of the widest ranging terrestrial carnivores, serves as an excellent exemplar for species experiencing extreme compression of their ranging opportunities in captivity...
Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license... more Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license of zoos and aquariums. The lack of consensus on how animal welfare is defined across such a diverse sector combined with and a widespread belief that commercial priorities such as entertaining visitors conflicts with animal welfare,
To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data fr... more To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential ''benchmarks'') on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to well-being; therefore, for each, we analyzed the potential role of these other factors. Population-level comparisons generally indicate poor reproduction, and poor infant and adult survivorship in zoos compared with benchmark populations (with some differences between zoo regions and over time). Stereotypic behavior also occurs in c. 60% of zoo elephants; as the population-level welfare index least open to alternative interpretations, this represents the strongest evidence that well-being is/has been widely compromised. Poor well-being is a parsimonious explanation for...
The costs of reproduction can be defined as the trade-off between present and future reproduction... more The costs of reproduction can be defined as the trade-off between present and future reproduction, where current reproduction may diminish future reproductive success of the parent and/or of the parent's offspring. One potential cost of reproduction in birds may be a reduction in the ability of the female to escape from predators due to a reduction in maximal flight velocity. Such a reduction in flight performance may come about in laying females as a result of an increase in mass over the laying period, and a reduction in flight muscle condition. The result of such a reduction in the flight velocity of wild birds would be to increase the susceptibility of those birds to capture by predators once attacked. To investigate the potential of egg production to affect flight velocity and consequently predation risk, the individual effects of body mass and muscle condition needed to be determined. Contrary to theoretical studies which have indicated that body mass might significantly a...
The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation cha... more The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation challenges in the wild and welfare challenges in captivity. This poses an ethical dilemma for the zoo community and supports the case that there is a need to reconsider prevailing management paradigms for these species in captivity. Whilst the welfare challenges wide ranging carnivores face have been attributed to reduced ranging opportunities associated with the decreased size of captive habitats, attempts to augment wild carnivore welfare in captivity typically focus on behaviours linked to hunting. Thus far, this has yet to result in the systematic elimination of signs of compromised welfare amongst captive carnivores. Here an assessment is carried out to identify the likely welfare priorities for Amur tigers, which, as one of the widest ranging terrestrial carnivores, serves as an excellent exemplar for species experiencing extreme compression of their ranging opportunities in captivity. These priorities are then used to consider novel strategies to address the welfare challenges associated with existing management paradigms, and in particular, attempt to overcome the issue of restricted space. The insights generated here have wider implications for other species experiencing substantive habitat compression in captivity. It is proposed here that the impact of habitat compression on captive carnivore welfare may not be a consequence of the reduction in habitat size per se, but rather the reduction in cognitive opportunities that likely covary with size, and that this should inform strategies to augment welfare.
Proceedings of the 2017 International Zoo Design Conference, 2019
For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical he... more For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical health of animals evidenced by enhanced longevity for numerous taxa in captivity. However, the potential benefits to physical health that captivity can bring to wild animals frequently comes at the expense of their psychological wellbeing; the more control and oversight humans have over animals and their environment, the better placed they are to protect their physical well- being, but the less free animals are to experience species appropriate psychological opportunities. A mechanism capable of identifying the relative welfare significance of behaviours and cognitive process would allow zoo designers and managers to focus resources where they will have the great- est impact on welfare and to more effectively balance the psychological and physical needs of man- aged animals necessary to deliver peak welfare. This is likely to be one of the most fertile fields for advancing zoo animal welfare in the coming years. Here a novel methodology is outlined that has been developed to identify behavioural and cognitive priorities that should form the foundation of both habitat design principles, as well as subsequent management strategies.
Its now 25 years since EAZA released Issue #1 of its quarterly magazine and I was delighted to be... more Its now 25 years since EAZA released Issue #1 of its quarterly magazine and I was delighted to be asked to provide an editorial reflecting on what the next 25 years for zoo animal welfare might look like. I've always felt that conservation was the mandate of zoos and animal welfare was our license to operate, and in the article I try and make the case that zoos will never fulfil their conservation potential unless they more effectively address concerns relating to animal welfare, and to do that, zoos need to consider a different approach to welfare than that which prevails over much of our community. In the article I encourage zoos to consider a different approach to achieving what I call 'peak welfare'; currently the desire for zoos to demonstrate their commitment to welfare has led many to focus on what can be measured and therefore demonstrated, rather than what really matters to the animals in our care. And so, I make the case we need to focus on the meaningful rather than the measurable and be mindful that prioritising the more tangible aspects of welfare and animal care, such as those relating to physical wellbeing, can frequently occur at the expense of an animal's psychological wellbeing; the very essence of of what animal welfare is. I also encourage zoos to consider a concept I've called 'species welfare' which encourages us to consider the welfare of populations now and into the future, an approach embracing both welfare and conservation as integrated disciplines. I believe this better reflects the future role of zoos as guardians of both biodiversity and wellbeing, as opposed to considering welfare and conservation as two separate and potentially competing disciplines with distinct interest groups as is currently the case. The 100th issue of Zooquaria can be found in the link below. *Please note there was an autocorrected typographic error in publishing where stereotypies was changed to stereotypes.
Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feeling... more Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feelings of animals which are currently impossible to measure directly. As a result, animal welfare assessment is heavily reliant upon the indirect measurement of factors that either affect what animals feel, or are effected by how they feel. Physiological and health orientated measures have emerged as popular metrics for assessing welfare because they are quantifiable, can effect and be affected by how animals feel and have merits regardless of their relationship to the feelings of animals. However, their popularity in animal welfare assessment has led to them having a disproportionate influence on animal management to the detriment of animal welfare in numerous instances. Here, the case is made that a tension exists between management that prioritizes aspects of care reflecting popular animal welfare metrics such as those relating to physical health, and management that emphasizes psychological wellbeing. By reexamining the relative merits of physical and psychological priorities in animal management, an alternate animal welfare paradigm emerges less tied to traditional welfare metrics. This paradigm theorizes about the possibility for an optimal animal welfare state to exist where managed animal populations provided essential psychological outlets but protected from key physical stressors routinely experienced in the wild, might experience higher levels of welfare than wild populations would routinely experience. The proposition that optimal animal welfare could theoretically be achieved in well managed and well designed captive environments challenges a widely held ethical perspective that captivity is inherently bad for animal welfare.
Animal welfare (sometimes termed ''well-being'') is about feelings -states such as ''suffering'' ... more Animal welfare (sometimes termed ''well-being'') is about feelings -states such as ''suffering'' or ''contentment'' that we can infer but cannot measure directly. Welfare indices have been developed from two main sources: studies of suffering humans, and of research animals deliberately subjected to challenges known to affect emotional state. We briefly review the resulting indices here, and discuss how well they are understood for elephants, since objective welfare assessment should play a central role in evidence-based elephant management. We cover behavioral and cognitive responses (approach/avoidance; intention, redirected and displacement activities; vigilance/startle; warning signals; cognitive biases, apathy and depression-like changes; stereotypic behavior); physiological responses (sympathetic responses; corticosteroid output -often assayed noninvasively via urine, feces or even hair; other aspects of HPA function, e.g. adrenal hypertrophy); and the potential negative effects of prolonged stress on reproduction (e.g. reduced gametogenesis; low libido; elevated still-birth rates; poor maternal care) and health (e.g. poor wound-healing; enhanced disease rates; shortened lifespans). The best validated, most used welfare indices for elephants are corticosteroid outputs and stereotypic behavior. Indices suggested as valid, partially validated, and/or validated but not yet applied within zoos include: measures of preference/avoidance; displacement movements; vocal/postural signals of affective (emotional) state; startle/vigilance; apathy; salivary and urinary epinephrine; female acyclity; infant mortality rates; skin/foot infections; cardio-vascular disease; and premature adult death. Potentially useful indices that have not yet attracted any validation work in elephants include: operant responding and place preference tests; intention and vacuum movements; fear/ stress pheromone release; cognitive biases; heart rate, pupil dilation and blood pressure; corticosteroid assay from hair, especially tail-hairs (to access endocrine events up to a year ago); adrenal hypertrophy; male infertility; prolactinemia; and immunological changes. Zoo Biol 29:237-255,
To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zo... more To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential ''benchmarks'') on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to well-being; therefore, for each, we analyzed the potential role of these other factors. Population-level comparisons generally indicate poor reproduction, and poor infant and adult survivorship in zoos compared with benchmark populations (with some differences between zoo regions and over time). Stereotypic behavior also occurs in c. 60% of zoo elephants; as the population-level welfare index least open to alternative interpretations, this represents the strongest evidence that well-being is/has been widely compromised. Poor well-being is a parsimonious explanation for the diverse range of population-level effects seen, but to test this hypothesis properly, data are now needed on, for example, potential confounds that can affect these indices (to partition out effects of factors unrelated to well-being), and causes of the observed temporal effects, and differences between species and zoo regions. Regardless of whether such additional data implicate poor well-being, our findings suggest that elephant management has generally been sub-optimal. We also discuss the selection and utilization of benchmark data, as a useful future approach for evaluating such issues. Zoo Biol 29:256-273, 2010.
Care, Conservation the Calgary Zoo Director of Animal and Research at nimal wefare is, il not the... more Care, Conservation the Calgary Zoo Director of Animal and Research at nimal wefare is, il not the biggest, than certalny one ot the blggest cha lenges fac ng zoos-something that is of fundarrental importance to accredited zoos and aqual ums. Meeting the highest standards for anlmal care is at the heart of Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums But how are standards for animal wefare set? And what exact y do we mean when we ta k about an antma 's welfare? s it simply a function of an anima 's physica con dltion or rs there more than that?
Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license... more Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license of zoos and aquariums. The lack of consensus on how animal welfare is defined across such a diverse sector combined with and a widespread belief that commercial priorities such as entertaining visitors conflicts with animal welfare, hinders efforts to effectively address this fundamental issue for the sector. Data derived from an audit of habitats across a major North American wildlife attraction revealed that holistic animal welfare assessments undertaken by animal carers embracing three principal constructs of animal welfare, correlated strongly with visitor perceptions of animal happiness. Visitor assessments of animal happiness also correlated with animal carer assessments of social, behavioural and locomotor opportunities and inversely with the prevalence of stereotypic behaviours, supporting the proposition that folk conceptions of animal welfare are more accurate than may have previously been considered to be the case. However, the holistic animal welfare assessment inversely correlated with assessments of a habitat's capacity to safeguard welfare as determined by the facility's veterinary staff, supporting the proposition that tensions exist between physical and psychological components of captive animal welfare provisioning. This further underlines the importance of clarity on how animal welfare is conceived when developing institutional animal welfare strategies. Finally, the data also showed that both holistic animal welfare assessments and visitor perceptions of animal happiness strongly correlated with the level of enjoyment experienced by visitors, challenging the belief that animal welfare competes with the commercial priorities of zoos and aquariums. The audit supports the case that maintaining high animal welfare is a commercial imperative as well as a moral obligation for zoos and aquariums and underlines the necessity to utilize conceptions of animal welfare that acknowledge the centrality of the affective states of animals in maintaining those standards.
Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feeling... more Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feelings of animals which are currently impossible to measure directly. As a result, animal welfare assessment is heavily reliant upon the indirect measurement of factors that either affect what animals feel, or are effected by how they feel. Physiological and health orientated measures have emerged as popular metrics for assessing welfare because they are quantifiable, can effect and be affected by how animals feel and have merits regardless of their relationship to the feelings of animals. However, their popularity in animal welfare assessment has led to them having a disproportionate influence on animal management to the detriment of animal welfare in numerous instances. Here, the case is made that a tension exists between management that prioritizes aspects of care reflecting popular animal welfare metrics such as those relating to physical health, and management that emphasizes psychologic...
13 Managing Captive Mammals in Mixed-Species Communities Jake Veasey and Gabriele Hammer INTRODUC... more 13 Managing Captive Mammals in Mixed-Species Communities Jake Veasey and Gabriele Hammer INTRODUCTION The first step in ... have shown considerable in-terspecific play between juvenile primates (Freeman and Al-cock) carnivores (Curry-Lindahl) and ...
The welfare of elephants is an enormous challenge for zoos in terms of animalnhusbandry, financia... more The welfare of elephants is an enormous challenge for zoos in terms of animalnhusbandry, financial cost and public perception. This chapterrs aim is not to discussnwhether elephants should be held in captivity: resolving this issue would involve soundndata on the costs and benefits of keeping them in zoos, and reconciling the diverse ethicalnbeliefs of different people. Instead, we review how animal welfare is assessednscientifically; discuss what is known...
It is commonly assumed that animals suffer if they cannot perform behaviours seen in wild conspec... more 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. ...
For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical he... more For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical health of animals evidenced by enhanced longevity for numerous taxa in captivity. However, the potential benefits to physical health that captivity can bring to wild animals frequently comes at the expense of their psychological wellbeing; the more control and oversight humans have over animals and their environment, the better placed they are to protect their physical well- being, but the less free animals are to experience species appropriate psychological opportunities. A mechanism capable of identifying the relative welfare significance of behaviours and cognitive process would allow zoo designers and managers to focus resources where they will have the great- est impact on welfare and to more effectively balance the psychological and physical needs of man- aged animals necessary to deliver peak welfare. This is likely to be one of the most fertile fields for advancing zoo animal welfare in the coming years. Here a novel methodology is outlined that has been developed to identify behavioural and cognitive priorities that should form the foundation of both habitat design principles, as well as subsequent management strategies.
The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation cha... more The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation challenges in the wild and welfare challenges in captivity. This poses an ethical dilemma for the zoo community and supports the case that there is a need to reconsider prevailing management paradigms for these species in captivity. Whilst the welfare challenges wide ranging carnivores face have been attributed to reduced ranging opportunities associated with the decreased size of captive habitats, attempts to augment wild carnivore welfare in captivity typically focus on behaviours linked to hunting. Thus far, this has yet to result in the systematic elimination of signs of compromised welfare amongst captive carnivores. Here an assessment is carried out to identify the likely welfare priorities for Amur tigers, which, as one of the widest ranging terrestrial carnivores, serves as an excellent exemplar for species experiencing extreme compression of their ranging opportunities in captivity...
Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license... more Animal welfare is a growing public concern that has the potential to undermine the social license of zoos and aquariums. The lack of consensus on how animal welfare is defined across such a diverse sector combined with and a widespread belief that commercial priorities such as entertaining visitors conflicts with animal welfare,
To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data fr... more To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential ''benchmarks'') on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to well-being; therefore, for each, we analyzed the potential role of these other factors. Population-level comparisons generally indicate poor reproduction, and poor infant and adult survivorship in zoos compared with benchmark populations (with some differences between zoo regions and over time). Stereotypic behavior also occurs in c. 60% of zoo elephants; as the population-level welfare index least open to alternative interpretations, this represents the strongest evidence that well-being is/has been widely compromised. Poor well-being is a parsimonious explanation for...
The costs of reproduction can be defined as the trade-off between present and future reproduction... more The costs of reproduction can be defined as the trade-off between present and future reproduction, where current reproduction may diminish future reproductive success of the parent and/or of the parent's offspring. One potential cost of reproduction in birds may be a reduction in the ability of the female to escape from predators due to a reduction in maximal flight velocity. Such a reduction in flight performance may come about in laying females as a result of an increase in mass over the laying period, and a reduction in flight muscle condition. The result of such a reduction in the flight velocity of wild birds would be to increase the susceptibility of those birds to capture by predators once attacked. To investigate the potential of egg production to affect flight velocity and consequently predation risk, the individual effects of body mass and muscle condition needed to be determined. Contrary to theoretical studies which have indicated that body mass might significantly a...
The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation cha... more The ecology of large, wide-ranging carnivores appears to make them vulnerable to conservation challenges in the wild and welfare challenges in captivity. This poses an ethical dilemma for the zoo community and supports the case that there is a need to reconsider prevailing management paradigms for these species in captivity. Whilst the welfare challenges wide ranging carnivores face have been attributed to reduced ranging opportunities associated with the decreased size of captive habitats, attempts to augment wild carnivore welfare in captivity typically focus on behaviours linked to hunting. Thus far, this has yet to result in the systematic elimination of signs of compromised welfare amongst captive carnivores. Here an assessment is carried out to identify the likely welfare priorities for Amur tigers, which, as one of the widest ranging terrestrial carnivores, serves as an excellent exemplar for species experiencing extreme compression of their ranging opportunities in captivity. These priorities are then used to consider novel strategies to address the welfare challenges associated with existing management paradigms, and in particular, attempt to overcome the issue of restricted space. The insights generated here have wider implications for other species experiencing substantive habitat compression in captivity. It is proposed here that the impact of habitat compression on captive carnivore welfare may not be a consequence of the reduction in habitat size per se, but rather the reduction in cognitive opportunities that likely covary with size, and that this should inform strategies to augment welfare.
Proceedings of the 2017 International Zoo Design Conference, 2019
For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical he... more For many species, zoo environments provide unprecedented opportunities to protect the physical health of animals evidenced by enhanced longevity for numerous taxa in captivity. However, the potential benefits to physical health that captivity can bring to wild animals frequently comes at the expense of their psychological wellbeing; the more control and oversight humans have over animals and their environment, the better placed they are to protect their physical well- being, but the less free animals are to experience species appropriate psychological opportunities. A mechanism capable of identifying the relative welfare significance of behaviours and cognitive process would allow zoo designers and managers to focus resources where they will have the great- est impact on welfare and to more effectively balance the psychological and physical needs of man- aged animals necessary to deliver peak welfare. This is likely to be one of the most fertile fields for advancing zoo animal welfare in the coming years. Here a novel methodology is outlined that has been developed to identify behavioural and cognitive priorities that should form the foundation of both habitat design principles, as well as subsequent management strategies.
Its now 25 years since EAZA released Issue #1 of its quarterly magazine and I was delighted to be... more Its now 25 years since EAZA released Issue #1 of its quarterly magazine and I was delighted to be asked to provide an editorial reflecting on what the next 25 years for zoo animal welfare might look like. I've always felt that conservation was the mandate of zoos and animal welfare was our license to operate, and in the article I try and make the case that zoos will never fulfil their conservation potential unless they more effectively address concerns relating to animal welfare, and to do that, zoos need to consider a different approach to welfare than that which prevails over much of our community. In the article I encourage zoos to consider a different approach to achieving what I call 'peak welfare'; currently the desire for zoos to demonstrate their commitment to welfare has led many to focus on what can be measured and therefore demonstrated, rather than what really matters to the animals in our care. And so, I make the case we need to focus on the meaningful rather than the measurable and be mindful that prioritising the more tangible aspects of welfare and animal care, such as those relating to physical wellbeing, can frequently occur at the expense of an animal's psychological wellbeing; the very essence of of what animal welfare is. I also encourage zoos to consider a concept I've called 'species welfare' which encourages us to consider the welfare of populations now and into the future, an approach embracing both welfare and conservation as integrated disciplines. I believe this better reflects the future role of zoos as guardians of both biodiversity and wellbeing, as opposed to considering welfare and conservation as two separate and potentially competing disciplines with distinct interest groups as is currently the case. The 100th issue of Zooquaria can be found in the link below. *Please note there was an autocorrected typographic error in publishing where stereotypies was changed to stereotypes.
Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feeling... more Despite the diversity of animal welfare definitions, most recognise the centrality of the feelings of animals which are currently impossible to measure directly. As a result, animal welfare assessment is heavily reliant upon the indirect measurement of factors that either affect what animals feel, or are effected by how they feel. Physiological and health orientated measures have emerged as popular metrics for assessing welfare because they are quantifiable, can effect and be affected by how animals feel and have merits regardless of their relationship to the feelings of animals. However, their popularity in animal welfare assessment has led to them having a disproportionate influence on animal management to the detriment of animal welfare in numerous instances. Here, the case is made that a tension exists between management that prioritizes aspects of care reflecting popular animal welfare metrics such as those relating to physical health, and management that emphasizes psychological wellbeing. By reexamining the relative merits of physical and psychological priorities in animal management, an alternate animal welfare paradigm emerges less tied to traditional welfare metrics. This paradigm theorizes about the possibility for an optimal animal welfare state to exist where managed animal populations provided essential psychological outlets but protected from key physical stressors routinely experienced in the wild, might experience higher levels of welfare than wild populations would routinely experience. The proposition that optimal animal welfare could theoretically be achieved in well managed and well designed captive environments challenges a widely held ethical perspective that captivity is inherently bad for animal welfare.
Animal welfare (sometimes termed ''well-being'') is about feelings -states such as ''suffering'' ... more Animal welfare (sometimes termed ''well-being'') is about feelings -states such as ''suffering'' or ''contentment'' that we can infer but cannot measure directly. Welfare indices have been developed from two main sources: studies of suffering humans, and of research animals deliberately subjected to challenges known to affect emotional state. We briefly review the resulting indices here, and discuss how well they are understood for elephants, since objective welfare assessment should play a central role in evidence-based elephant management. We cover behavioral and cognitive responses (approach/avoidance; intention, redirected and displacement activities; vigilance/startle; warning signals; cognitive biases, apathy and depression-like changes; stereotypic behavior); physiological responses (sympathetic responses; corticosteroid output -often assayed noninvasively via urine, feces or even hair; other aspects of HPA function, e.g. adrenal hypertrophy); and the potential negative effects of prolonged stress on reproduction (e.g. reduced gametogenesis; low libido; elevated still-birth rates; poor maternal care) and health (e.g. poor wound-healing; enhanced disease rates; shortened lifespans). The best validated, most used welfare indices for elephants are corticosteroid outputs and stereotypic behavior. Indices suggested as valid, partially validated, and/or validated but not yet applied within zoos include: measures of preference/avoidance; displacement movements; vocal/postural signals of affective (emotional) state; startle/vigilance; apathy; salivary and urinary epinephrine; female acyclity; infant mortality rates; skin/foot infections; cardio-vascular disease; and premature adult death. Potentially useful indices that have not yet attracted any validation work in elephants include: operant responding and place preference tests; intention and vacuum movements; fear/ stress pheromone release; cognitive biases; heart rate, pupil dilation and blood pressure; corticosteroid assay from hair, especially tail-hairs (to access endocrine events up to a year ago); adrenal hypertrophy; male infertility; prolactinemia; and immunological changes. Zoo Biol 29:237-255,
To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zo... more To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential ''benchmarks'') on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to well-being; therefore, for each, we analyzed the potential role of these other factors. Population-level comparisons generally indicate poor reproduction, and poor infant and adult survivorship in zoos compared with benchmark populations (with some differences between zoo regions and over time). Stereotypic behavior also occurs in c. 60% of zoo elephants; as the population-level welfare index least open to alternative interpretations, this represents the strongest evidence that well-being is/has been widely compromised. Poor well-being is a parsimonious explanation for the diverse range of population-level effects seen, but to test this hypothesis properly, data are now needed on, for example, potential confounds that can affect these indices (to partition out effects of factors unrelated to well-being), and causes of the observed temporal effects, and differences between species and zoo regions. Regardless of whether such additional data implicate poor well-being, our findings suggest that elephant management has generally been sub-optimal. We also discuss the selection and utilization of benchmark data, as a useful future approach for evaluating such issues. Zoo Biol 29:256-273, 2010.
Care, Conservation the Calgary Zoo Director of Animal and Research at nimal wefare is, il not the... more Care, Conservation the Calgary Zoo Director of Animal and Research at nimal wefare is, il not the biggest, than certalny one ot the blggest cha lenges fac ng zoos-something that is of fundarrental importance to accredited zoos and aqual ums. Meeting the highest standards for anlmal care is at the heart of Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums But how are standards for animal wefare set? And what exact y do we mean when we ta k about an antma 's welfare? s it simply a function of an anima 's physica con dltion or rs there more than that?
An Elephant in the Room: the Science and Well Being of Elephants in Captivity
The welfare of elephants is an enormous challenge for zoos in terms of animal husbandry, financia... more The welfare of elephants is an enormous challenge for zoos in terms of animal husbandry, financial cost and public perception. This chapter's aim is not to discuss whether elephants should be held in captivity: resolving this issue would involve sound data on the costs and benefits of keeping them in zoos, and reconciling the diverse ethical beliefs of different people. Instead, we review how animal welfare is assessed scientifically; discuss what is known about these various techniques for elephants; survey the evidence concerning population-level welfare of elephants in zoos; summarize the possible causes of reduced welfare amongst captive elephants; review the (disturbingly sparse) information that has been collated to test some of these ideas; and discuss what future work is needed to objectively evaluate the psychological welfare of zoo elephants.
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Papers by Jake S Veasey