Zoo Animal Welfare

Paul Rose, Zoe Newnham, Ian Hickey

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040433331
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Biology

Zoo Animal Welfare unpacks the different concepts of welfare in the zoo and aquarium, considering how enclosure design, nutrition, conservation activities, visitor engagement and daily husbandry all need to have a welfare focus to be relevant to the species being housed. The book provides the practical application of evidence-based welfare theory, centred on the concept of "welfare-focused husbandry", which enables zoo animals to experience positive welfare.

Recognising that welfare is a complex and challenging area of science, the first section of the book provides core introductory material defining welfare in the zoo and looking at how the wild is managed ethically. It then delves into current issues with contributed chapters exploring topics such as environmental enrichment, nutrition, the impacts of human presence in the zoo, conservation welfare, use of social media and population management.

Packed with case studies and exploration of emerging issues in the field (e.g. novel technology for welfare assessment, welfare considerations of overlooked taxa), this book is essential reading for higher-level undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics who wish to study the welfare of captive wild animals, as well as for all those working in animal care and zoo operations. Zoo Animal Welfare will empower readers to go "beyond the norm" when considering what zoo animals really need, applying their new knowledge for the benefit of both animals and zoos.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Editor biographies
• Acknowledgements
• Zoo Animal Welfare glossary
• List of contributors
• 1 Animal welfare in the zoo: The what, why and how
• 2 The complexity of conceptualising and defining animal welfare
• 3 Zoo ethics vs. welfare – complementary or conflicting?
• 4 Confirming the credibility of animal care: Evidence-based husbandry and husbandry-based evidence
• 5 Control and choice, and positive challenge…a route to ideal zoo welfare?
• 6 Environmental enrichment and promoting motivated behaviours
• 7 Enclosure design, space use and animal welfare
• 8 Welfare is what you eat: Zoo nutrition and positive animal welfare
• 9 People and animal welfare: Impacts of human presence in the zoo
• 10 Conservation welfare: Animal well-being, behavioural ecology, and the One Plan Approach to conservation
• 11 New technology – challenges and opportunities for zoo animal welfare science
• 12 Animal welfare and zoo conservation outputs
• 13 Designing and implementing animal welfare management assessment programmes
• 14 The zookeeper perspective on animal welfare
• 15 One Health and welfare – veterinary perspectives
• 16 Enriching the awkward – promoting welfare in challenging species (reptiles and amphibians)
• 17 Enriching the awkward – promoting welfare in challenging species (aquarium fish)
• 18 Animal welfare and policy
• 19 From mantids to mantis shrimp – what about invertebrate welfare?
• 20 Considering the wild – opportunities and challenges of natural behaviour and zoo welfare
• 21 Promoting zoo animal welfare to the future professional
• 22 Welfare in an online world – communicating zoo and animal welfare science through social media
• 23 Population management, records and animal welfare
• 24 Animal-centred habitat design as the foundation of zoo animal welfare and the role of welfare prioritisation
• 25 Zoo welfare strategy – from page to practice
• 26 Enabling animals to participate in their own care
• 27 Zoo animal welfare into the 21st century: Conclusions and future considerations for welfare-focused husbandry
• Index