Quality-of-Life Assessments in Zoo Animals: Not Just for the Aged and Charismatic
Zoos should aim to provide all of their animals with a good quality of life (QoL) throughout all life stages. In parallel with the evolution of QoL assessment questionnaires and tools in human and domestic animal settings, in recent times, some individual zoos and zoo industry associations have incorporated such instruments into their animal management […]
Exploring the behaviors and social preferences of a large, multigenerational herd of zoo-housed southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)
Abstract The zoo-housed southern white rhinoceros (SWR) population is of special concern due to their lack of consistent breeding success. An enhanced understanding of SWR social preferences could better inform management planning by promoting natural social relationships, which can positively affect their well-being. The large, multigeneration herd housed at the North Carolina Zoo provides an […]
A Quantitative Approach for Using Anticipatory Behavior as a Graded Welfare Assessment
To perform quick assessments, welfare practitioners may focus on specific behavioral indicators of welfare, which can lead to challenges in interpretation. Anticipatory behavior has been suggested as a potentially graded indicator of well-being in animals. However, there are difficulties in assessing variations in this class of behavior quantitatively. Here, we propose an analytical approach for […]
GAPs in the study of zoo and wild animal welfare
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20285.abs To investigate the science of animal welfare for zoo and wild animals in the period from 1966 to 2007, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of abstracts downloaded from The Web of Science© database using the keyword combination “Animal welfare, Zoo* and wild” in the topic field. In total we downloaded 1,125 abstracts, which […]
Characteristics of Animals Used in Zoo Interpretation
Most research on the use of animals in zoo interpretation focuses on visitor knowledge and attitude change, with little emphasis on the characteristics of the animals used as interpretive tools. A synthesis of research was conducted to: (a) identify the characteristics of animals used as teaching tools in zoo interpretation and (b) determine the usefulness […]
Visual body condition scoring in zoo animals – composite, algorithm and overview approaches
Various body condition scoring (BCS) methods have been developed as management tools in zoo animal husbandry. In contrast to BCS for farm animals, where visual and palpable features are used, these protocols are mainly restricted to visual cues. Considering their inherent subjectivity, such methods face scepticism as their reliability is questioned. In terms of their […]