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DR. INGRID VISSER (IV), NEW ZEALAND
Founder of Orca Research Trust
A comparison of the behaviour of wild and captive cetaceans is
enough to highlight the problems of these animals in zoos. The
behavior of these animals in the wild should be the benchmark
for cetaceans living in dolphinaria. Differences in the spectrum of
behaviour might be a strong animal welfare indicator.
DR. XAVIER MANTECA (XM), SPAIN
School of Veterinary Science,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona)
Animal welfare must be a priority for zoos and aquariums. In order
to identify problem areas and monitor progress, it is essential to
develop animal welfare assessment protocols that are based on
scientific evidence and not on opinion or subjective impressions.
A significant amount of work research has been done over the
last few years to develop welfare assessment protocols for farm
animals and these may provide a useful framework for zoo species.
As animal welfare is a multidimensional concept that includes not
only the physical health of the animals but also their emotional
state and behaviour, animal welfare can only be assessed by using
a combination of different indicators. Animal welfare indicators
have been conveniently divided into animal-based and resource-
based indicators. Animal-based indicators include behavioural
measures, prevalence and incidence of disease and injuries, body
condition, life span and physiological parameters. Resource-based
indicators may be easier to measure than animal-based indicators,
but have the limitation that a given environmental feature may
have different effects on the welfare of animals depending on
its interaction with other environmental features and on the
temperament of each individual animal. On the contrary, animal-
based indicators provide direct information on the actual state of
the animals and therefore are generally preferred over resource-
based indicators. Nevertheless, oftentimes a combination of both
types of indicators is the best strategy to assess animal welfare
in practice. Selected indicators (both animal-based and resource-
based) should be checked for validity, reliability and feasibility
before being combined into species-specific protocols.
Summary of a Q & A Panel and a consecutive discussion of different working groups |
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