The perception of felid welfare by zookeepers in North America and the implications for zoo managers

For professionals caring for humans or non-human animals, many joys are to be found in working towards what an individual believes to be their calling, especially as they contribute to purposeful, meaningful work consistent with and intrinsic to their own values and beliefs. However, there can be downfalls. Empathic strain, conflict between co-workers, dissatisfaction with upper management, lack of opportunities to make positive changes, limited or no access to level and experience-appropriate professional development, and other stressors are all risks carried by organisations concerned with animal welfare. In the present study, a survey on job satisfaction and workplace stressors was completed by 311 zoo and aquarium professionals working in a range of roles from junior animal care staff to curator. Respondent profiles were created using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and four distinct clusters were identified through Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components (HCPC), highlighting common themes in different levels of experience and in job roles regarding stressors, satisfaction, and feelings about their work and workplaces. Overall, many zoo professionals were concerned with lacking the ability to feel empowered to do their best for animal welfare, and they described a link between the staff welfare and their perceptions of the welfare of the animals they cared for. Through identifying and understanding where organisations can better support their staff it is possible to target and reduce the number of common stressors faced by zoo professionals, leading to increased staff retention, higher job satisfaction, and an improved ability to perform at their best for animal welfare.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Job Satisfaction and Occupational Stressors of Distinctive Roles in Zoos and Aquariums

Brando

Rachinas-Lopes

Goulart

et al. 2023

“…However, understanding these signs requires caregivers to be experienced and knowledgeable in both recognizing and interpreting them when they are present at not only a species level, but also at an individual level. Nonetheless, subjective caregiver assessments of animal welfare based on the signs they have observed have been demonstrated to be valid, reliable, and effective tools for understanding the welfare states of the animals they care for [209,[216][217][218][219][220]. Caregivers are those most familiar with the individual temperaments of the animals, and thus, are best equipped for both creating and assessing welfare plans in relation to handling and training that respect the consistent individual differences in behavior of the animals they care for [193].…”

Section: Selection Of Meaningful Rewards and Reward Schedulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Modern and professional zoos should look to such cases as examples and seek to implement similar programs within their organizations to create cohesive, modern, and welfare-conscious handling and training procedures for all species. Through PRT methods and through building positive human-animal relationships founded on trust and positive emotions, the perception that caregivers have for their work and the welfare of the animals they work with will in turn improve [218][219][220]…”

Section: Training the Trainermentioning

confidence: 99%

Handling and Training of Wild Animals: Evidence and Ethics-Based Approaches and Best Practices in the Modern Zoo

Brando¹,

Norman²

2023

There is an ethical responsibility to provide all animals living in human care with optimal and positive well-being. As animals living in zoos and aquariums frequently interact with their human caregivers as part of their daily care routines, it is both relevant and essential to consider the impact of these interactions on animal well-being. Allowing animals to have choice and control in multiple areas of their lives, such as by providing opportunities for them to voluntarily participate in their own care through, for example, positive reinforcement training, is an essential component of good animal well-being programs. This review aims to describe evidence-based approaches, ethics, and best practices in the handling and training of the many taxa held in zoos and aquariums worldwide, drawing from work in related animal care fields such as laboratories, farms, rescue, and sanctuaries. The importance of ongoing animal well-being assessments is discussed, with a particular focus on the need for continued review and refinement of processes and procedures pertaining to animal training and handling specifically. Review, enquiry, assessment, evaluation, and refinement will aim to dynamically support positive well-being for all animals.

“…Understanding of wild animal welfare and human input is still debated [1][2][3]7], particularly in species with limited knowledge of conditions in the wild and their life cycles. A captive environment may also contain different goals and husbandry settings than that Animals 2023, 13, 3620 2 of 11 of the wild.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Olge and DeSmet [7] suggest one way of improving welfare may be the inclusion of zookeepers in monitoring and assessment, and to use a more contemporary approach with a subjective measure of behavior and animal personality. There is, however, a question around whether zookeepers have sufficient understanding of welfare and whether it is a priority within their collection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invisible Invertebrates: The Welfare of Invertebrates in Public Aquaria

Perkins

2023

Awareness of welfare issues within animal collections is increasing as information becomes more accessible for staff and the public. A knowledge gap remains when considering the welfare of invertebrates, particularly when housed in public aquaria. TripAdvisor comments were analyzed for 485 worldwide aquariums. The public focused on anthropogenic features or charismatic organisms within collections. Invertebrate welfare was only presented in 18% of negative welfare comments compared with the 51% of represented vertebrates and 31% of negative general welfare comments. The UK and USA reported a greater number of perceived invertebrate welfare issues. Greater dissemination of information between aquarists and scientists should be encouraged to drive welfare standards and improve husbandry. In addition, incorporating input from invertebrate aquarists while utilizing welfare toolkits are vital for improving overall standards if we are to have greater representation of invertebrate welfare in public aquaria.