Positive Wild Animal Welfare

Browning, Heather; Veit, Walter

doi:10.1007/s10539-023-09901-5

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Historically, the notion of wild animal welfare was given little thought amongst conservationists and animal welfarists [23]. However, a now acknowledged impact of distress (on conservation outcomes) is driving interventions to improve the welfare status of wild animals [24]. Applied behavioural data can be used to non-invasively quantify and assess animal welfare [25,26], but there is contention around all aspects of behaviour's scientific application to welfare [27].…”

Section: Advancing Animal Welfare Science To Understand What Animals ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sixty Years of Tinbergen’s Four Questions and Their Continued Relevance to Applied Behaviour and Welfare Research in Zoo Animals: A Commentary

Kelly,

Rose

2024

JZBG

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Understanding animal behaviour can feel like deciphering a foreign language. In 1963, pioneering ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen offered a key: four fundamental questions to dissect behaviour’s complexities and reduce interpretive bias. These “Four Questions” fall into two categories: Proximate (how?) and Ultimate (why?). The Proximate questions ask how the behaviour is triggered (Causation) and develops over time (Ontogeny). The Ultimate questions delve into its evolutionary history (Phylogeny) and purpose (Function). Traditionally used in behavioural ecology, Tinbergen’s framework finds new relevance in fields like sentience, welfare, conservation, and animal management. This paper illustrates how further integration of these Questions into applied research can improve outcomes. For example, captive animals can receive enrichment seemingly “unnatural” in origin and form. Does such enrichment trigger species-typical behaviours, fulfilling the same adaptive function as natural stimuli would? Understanding a species’ natural behaviour patterns and how the performance of such activities promotes positive welfare states is key to biologically relevant population management. Tinbergen’s Four Questions can help scientists to decipher the relevance of natural behaviour, and how a species’ responses to their environment indicate what individuals need and want at a specific time or place. By applying the Four Questions, we can answer this question and, in turn, refine husbandry practices and conserve behavioural diversity in managed populations. Sixty years after their conception, Tinbergen’s Four Questions remain a powerful tool for behavioural research. By embracing different biological disciplines within a unified framework, applied animal zoo science will continue to advance and provide credible evidence-based outputs.

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Section: Advancing Animal Welfare Science To Understand What Animals ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sixty Years of Tinbergen’s Four Questions and Their Continued Relevance to Applied Behaviour and Welfare Research in Zoo Animals: A Commentary

Kelly,

Rose

2024

JZBG

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“…Predation is, naturally, not just a threat for newborns but also affects many adult members of prey species. The large number of hardships have even led some to conclude that most wild animals contain more suffering than happiness (Horta, 2015;Ng, 1995;Tomasik, 2009; but see Browning & Veit, 2023;Groff & Ng, 2019).…”

Section: Measuring Attitudes Towards Wild Animal Welfare: the Wild An...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring attitudes towards wild animal welfare: The Wild Animal Welfare Scale

Sleegers,

Moss,

McAuliffe

et al. 2023

Preprint

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In this paper we introduce the Wild Animal Welfare (WAW) scale. The WAW scale consists of four important factors to assess attitudes towards the welfare of wild animals: caring about WAW, support for intervening in nature, idyllic views of nature, and intervention ineffectiveness beliefs. Items were devised to assess these constructs, pilot tested, and verified across four preregistered studies (N = 2866). The factors demonstrated good reliability and strongly correlated with other measures of animal welfare attitudes, including animal attitudes, speciesism, and support for specific WAW interventions. Caring and interventionist attitudes towards WAW also predicted a bonus payment being given to a wild animal charity. Our aim is that the scale will facilitate further research on attitudes towards wild animal suffering and, in turn, inform interventions and policies aimed at improving the welfare of wild animals.

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“…The welfare state can be assessed based on physiological and behavioral measures [2], the resources available, and the quality of handling and management [7,12]. Animal welfare varies from very good to very poor [1] depending on the balance between the occurrence of positive and negative experiences [13], which is called net welfare [14,15]. But it is essential to consider that good welfare cannot always counterbalance poor welfare, as some negative experiences can be more impactful than positive ones [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Easiest Becomes the Rule: Beliefs, Knowledge and Attitudes of Equine Practitioners and Enthusiasts Regarding Horse Welfare

Maurício,

Leme,

Hötzel

2024

Animals

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Inadequate management conditions can impair the welfare of captive-bred horses. Understanding individuals’ viewpoints and the factors influencing their decisions about adopting or avoiding certain practices may provide insights into their motivations and decision-making processes. This is particularly relevant in the equestrian community, where equine practitioners and enthusiasts often engage in harmful practices. We explored the beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes of equine practitioners and enthusiasts about horse welfare and the barriers that prevent them from employing better management practices that are essential to promoting horses’ welfare. The study consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in person with 31 individuals directly involved in the equestrian environment in Brazil. Responses were analyzed through thematic analysis with a data-driven deductive approach. Participants’ beliefs, knowledge and attitudes to horse welfare were divided into three themes. The first theme, “Let the horse be a horse”, captured participants’ perceptions about how physical and mental aspects related to the nature and welfare of horses. The second theme, “Everyone does it like that”, includes the social norms that influence decisions about the practices that impact on the welfare of the horses. The third theme, “Beyond utopia: how and why horses are managed the way they are”, covered barriers that participants perceived as impediments to the use of best practices for the welfare of horses. While participants demonstrated awareness of welfare issues and acknowledged factors that negatively impact horses, there was a notable discrepancy between this knowledge and the implementation of improved management practices. This could be explained by several perceived barriers to implementing management practices that could enhance horse welfare, including lack of financial resources, limited physical space, shortage of qualified labor, time constraints, inadequate tools, and insufficient knowledge. Additionally, we identified deeply rooted social norms within the equestrian community and culturally established practices that limit approaches to horse welfare. Participants underscored the influence of these norms and different interpretations of “letting the horse be a horse” based on the horse’s value and purpose. Concerning low-value horses, the primary justifications for stall housing and concentrated feeding were linked to elevated costs involved in spatial demands and labor; in contrast, for high-value horses used in performance and aesthetics, the arguments shifted to potential benefits to the horses’ well-being. From an ethical perspective, ideally, individuals should refrain from owning horses if they cannot ensure the animals’ welfare. Additionally, if the equestrian community neglects public attitudes towards animal welfare, it risks eroding its social license.

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Positive Wild Animal Welfare

Cited by 13 publications

References 57 publications

Sixty Years of Tinbergen’s Four Questions and Their Continued Relevance to Applied Behaviour and Welfare Research in Zoo Animals: A Commentary

Sixty Years of Tinbergen’s Four Questions and Their Continued Relevance to Applied Behaviour and Welfare Research in Zoo Animals: A Commentary

Measuring attitudes towards wild animal welfare: The Wild Animal Welfare Scale

The Easiest Becomes the Rule: Beliefs, Knowledge and Attitudes of Equine Practitioners and Enthusiasts Regarding Horse Welfare

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