Feasibility and validity of the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid to monitor the welfare of zoo-housed gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla
Zoos need to monitor their animals in order to evaluate to what extent animal welfare policies result in adequate welfare. Since it is usually not feasible for zoos to structurally measure corticosteroid concentrations or conduct extensive behavioural observations, zoos often rely on their caretakers to assess animal welfare using surveys. The Animal Welfare Assessment Grid […]
Animal-based welfare monitoring: using keeper ratings as an assessment tool
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20281.abs Zoological institutions are in urgent need of identifying and implementing welfare assessment tools that allow for ongoing, quantitative monitoring of individual animal well-being. Although the American Zoological Association’s (AZA) Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) promotes the use of such tools in internal review processes, current approaches to institutional welfare assessment are resource-based and outline […]