Longitudinal Improvements in Zoo-Housed Elephant Welfare: A Case Study at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Finch, Katherine; Sach, Fiona; Fitzpatrick, Malcolm; Masters, Nic; Rowden, Lewis J.

doi:10.3390/ani10112029

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…While improvements in animal welfare provisioning over the last half‐century within most accredited ‘western' zoos, and likely many more besides would be hard to dispute (see Kitchener & MacDonald, 2002; Finch et al, 2020; Tidière et al, 2016), these improvements have likely at best, kept pace with a growing awareness of, and concern for animal welfare among the general populace (see Marinova & Fox, 2019; Robbins et al, 2018; L. E. Webb et al, 2019). Furthermore, it is also likely that zoos and aquariums have made more fundamental improvements in the provisioning of physical wellbeing than they have in delivering psychological wellbeing (Veasey, 2017) with most species now living longer in zoos than they would in the wild (see Tidière et al, 2016), but with stereotypies and other abnormal behaviours still being routine for many species (see Clubb & Mason, 2003, 2007; Mason & Veasey, 2009a, 2009b, 2010; Swaisgood & Shepherdson, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While improvements in animal welfare provisioning over the last half-century within most accredited 'western' zoos, and likely many more besides would be hard to dispute (see Kitchener & MacDonald, 2002;Finch et al, 2020;Tidière et al, 2016), these improvements have likely at best, kept pace with a growing awareness of, and concern for animal welfare among the general populace (see Marinova & Fox, 2019;Robbins et al, 2018;L. E. Webb et al, 2019).…”

Section: Animal Welfare As An Opportunity Rather Than a Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differing animal welfare conceptions and what they mean for the future of zoos and aquariums, insights from an animal welfare audit

Veasey

2022

Zoo Biology

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Animal Welfare As An Opportunity Rather Than a Costmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differing animal welfare conceptions and what they mean for the future of zoos and aquariums, insights from an animal welfare audit

Veasey

2022

Zoo Biology

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“…Studies on the behavior of zoo-housed animals are typically limited to zoos' opening hours of operation (i.e., during the day), which consequently limits our knowledge of these animals and how they behave throughout the entire 24 h period [18]. Remote monitoring over 24 h periods can provide valuable insights about how zoo-housed animals behave [24,25], which can guide decisions that enhance their welfare. Remote monitoring during this study revealed at least three individual penguins swam overnight between the hours of 0:00-6:00.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impacts of a Commercial Bubble Curtain on Zoo-Housed African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) Swimming Behavior

O’Brien

Cronin

2023

JZBG

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Swimming is an important behavior for all penguin species. However, zoo-housed penguins typically do not swim as often as their wild counterparts, which may have consequences for their health and welfare. In an effort to increase the swimming time of the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) population at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL, USA (21 adults: 13 males, 8 females), we introduced a commercially available bubble curtain to the outdoor pool within the penguins’ habitat. The bubble curtain pushes pressurized air out through a hose fitted with small holes to create a stream of bubbles that generate water movement, which could entice penguins to swim. Over the course of 2 months, the penguins were exposed to a series of alternating conditions characterized by the bubble curtain being off or on for 2-week periods. A total of 228 swimming bouts were observed during this study. The bubble curtain did not increase the amount of time the penguins spent swimming, nor the maximum number of penguins in the pool during swim bouts. Rather, the penguins spent more time swimming when the bubble curtain was turned off, and the number of penguins in the pool during swim bouts was consistent across experimental phases. Additionally, we found that penguins swam the most when air temperatures were between 31 and 40 °F (approximately −1 to −4 °C). Unexpectedly, at least three individual penguins swam overnight between the hours of midnight and 6:00, highlighting the value of monitoring animals during entire 24 h periods. Collectively, this study provides detailed information about the swimming behavior of a zoo-housed African penguin population, and indicates that a bubble curtain was ineffective at stimulating swimming.

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“…Emitting a low frequency rumble call An ethogram (12,16) was used when assessing the daytime activity of the elephants. They were directly observed for three consecutive days from 08:00 h to 16:00 h. This time was divided into four intervals: 8:00-10:00 h, 10:00-12:00 h, 12:00-14:00 h, and 14:00-16:00 h. In each of these four intervals, the elephants were observed for a minimum of 5 minutes for their daytime activity.…”

Section: Rumblementioning

confidence: 99%

Using Species-Specific Protocols for the Welfare Assessment of Elephants in the Skopje Zoo

Dobrikj

Ilieski

Ilievska

et al. 2022

Macedonian Veterinary Review

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Providing good animal welfare standards is very important for wild animals in captivity, especially in zoos. Therefore, the aim of this study was to perform a welfare assessment of elephants in the Skopje Zoo using species-specific protocols. Two specific protocols were used for the welfare assessment and were combined for a more unified approach. These protocols focused on the assessment of the elephant’s day-time behaviour, including Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA), as well as the following sections: nutrition, physical health, environment, behaviour and management. Data was collected from the Asian and African elephants that were housed together, in the Skopje Zoo. Both species were observed for three consecutive days, during which time QBA was performed and they were observed on their daytime behaviour. Feeding (42% African, 34% Asian elephant) and anticipatory (35% African, 22% Asian elephant) behaviour were predominantly observed daytime behaviours of both elephants, as well as stereotypic behaviour (30%) of the Asian elephant. Concerning the QBA, ‘uncomfortable’ (296 Asian, 234 African elephants) and ‘relaxed’ (271 Asian, 280 African elephants) were the most dominant descriptors for both elephants. The collected data indicated that the elephants were in good physical health. Regular feeding enrichment, as well as environmental enrichment was recommended. There is room for improvement concerning the management practices of the elephants.

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Longitudinal Improvements in Zoo-Housed Elephant Welfare: A Case Study at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Cited by 10 publications

References 59 publications

Differing animal welfare conceptions and what they mean for the future of zoos and aquariums, insights from an animal welfare audit

Differing animal welfare conceptions and what they mean for the future of zoos and aquariums, insights from an animal welfare audit

The Impacts of a Commercial Bubble Curtain on Zoo-Housed African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) Swimming Behavior

Using Species-Specific Protocols for the Welfare Assessment of Elephants in the Skopje Zoo

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