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Cited by 17Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesConservation, Ecology, Wildlife EducationWildlife Ecology and Conservation

Integrating individual animal and population welfare in zoos and aquariums

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DiVincenti, Louis, McDowell, Allen, Herrelko, Elizabeth S.·2023·Animals
DOI 10.3390/ani13101577PMC PMC10215249
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Abstract

Over the last 50 years, animal welfare science has advanced dramatically, especially in zoos and aquariums. A shifting focus from population-level welfare parameters such as reproductive success and longevity (macroscopic, big-picture concepts) to the subjective experience of individual animals (microscopic, focused concepts) has led to more effective animal welfare assessments and improvements in animal welfare. The interplay between individual animal and population welfare for captive animals is critical to the way zoos and aquariums operate to realize their welfare and conservation missions, especially when these missions conflict with one another. In this report, we explore the intersection of individual animal and population welfare in zoos and aquariums and how these two concepts may support one another or be in conflict.

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  • In a large-scale epidemiological study of 291 elephants across 70 North American zoos, the Elephant Welfare Initiative underscored the importance of larger social groups for elephant welfare.

    “In a large-scale epidemiological study of 291 elephants across 70 North American zoos, the Elephant Welfare Initiative underscored the importance of larger social groups for elephant welfare (Carlstead et al., 2013;Greco et al., 2016a;DiVincenti, McDowell & Herrelko, 2023”

    From Continuing challenges of elephant captivity: the captive environment, health issues, and welfare implications (2024) · cites this paper as DiVincenti, McDowell & Herrelko, 2023

    Section 2 describes the Elephant Welfare Initiative as a large-scale epidemiological study of elephants in North American zoos and reports that time spent in larger social groups was protective against stereotypic behavior. It gives the sample as “nearly 300 elephants in over 70 facilities,” however, not the claimed exact figures of 291 elephants across 70 zoos. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 32

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
DiVincenti, L., McDowell, A., & Herrelko, E. S.
Affiliations
  • Independent Researcher, Hamlin, NY 14464, USA
  • North Carolina Aquarium (US)
  • Smithsonian Institution (US)
Corresponding author
DiVincenti, Louis
ORCID
Herrelko, Elizabeth S.
Venue
Animals
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2023-05-09
Volume
13
Issue
10
Pages
1577
ISSN
2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ani13101577
PMC
PMC10215249
OpenAlex
W4378516847
Cited by
17
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2
FWCI
5.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Conservation, Ecology, Wildlife Education
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Keywords
population welfare, captive animals, zoos, aquariums, welfare analysis, reproductive success, longevity

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