Monitoring the behavior and habitat use of animals to enhance welfare using the ZooMonitor app
Open accessAbstract
Regular monitoring of the behavior, habitat use, and appearance of animals can provide valuable insight into their welfare.These ongoing data can help identify meaningful trends that can be acted upon to enhance welfare, and potentially reveal individual preferences and patterns that can facilitate care tailored to the individual.To provide a low cost, flexible, user-friendly tool for staff to conduct systematic behavioral monitoring, Lincoln Park Zoo, with development support from Zier Niemann Consulting, created the ZooMonitor app.With ZooMonitor, users can record the behavior and habitat use of animals using standardized animal behavior recording methods as well as log individual characteristics such as body condition or coat/feather quality.These data can be recorded using computers or tablet devices, and data are uploaded to a cloud server where the user can conduct automated reliability tests to check observer consistency and generate built-in reports such as activity budgets and heat maps showing how animals use their available space.To demonstrate the use of ZooMonitor in an ongoing monitoring program, two case studies from Lincoln Park Zoo are presented: 1) promoting increased foraging and broader habitat use of pygmy hippos (Choeropsis liberiensis); and 2) tracking feather condition changes in a flock of domestic chickens (Gallus gallus).These examples highlight the importance of standardized monitoring and use of digital tools like ZooMonitor to enable science-based husbandry practices and promote positive welfare for animals in human care.
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ZooMonitor has been adopted by over 200 institutions.
“ZooMonitor has been adopted by over 200 institutions (72)”
From Comparison of animal welfare assessment tools and methodologies: need for an effective approach for captive elephants in Asia (2024) · cites this paper as [72]
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- Authors
- Wark, J. D., Cronin, K. A., Niemann, T., Shender, M. A., Horrigan, A., Kao, A., & Ross, M. R.
- Affiliations
- Lincoln Park Zoo (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wark, Jason D.
- Venue
- Animal Behavior and Cognition
- Publisher
- Animal Behavior and Cognition
- Published
- 2019-06-01
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 158-167
- ISSN
- 2372-4323 (ISSN-L)
- 2372-5052
- OpenAlex
- W2964908459
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 13.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Animal Behavior and Cognition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Keywords
- animal welfare monitoring, behavioral monitoring, habitat use, zoo animals, observer reliability, activity budget, heatmaps, Choeropsis liberiensis, chickens, feather condition, husbandry practices, Lincoln Park Zoo
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