Zoo animal welfare assessment: where do we stand?
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Zoological institutions, such as zoos and aquariums, have made animal welfare a top priority, as it is not only a moral obligation but also crucial for fulfilling their roles in education and conservation. There is a need for science-based tools to assess and monitor animal welfare in these settings. However, assessing the welfare of zoo animals is challenging due to the diversity of species and lack of knowledge on their specific needs. This review aims to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of existing methodologies for assessing zoo animal welfare through: (1) A critical analysis of the main approaches to zoo animal welfare assessment; (2) A description of the most relevant animal-based welfare indicators for zoo animals with a particular focus on behavioural and physiological indicators; and (3) An identification of areas that require further research.
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Species-specific welfare assessment tools offer a refined and more precise evaluation of animal welfare by tailoring assessments to the unique needs, behaviors, and physiological aspects of a particular species.
“These offer a refined and more precise evaluation of animal welfare by tailoring assessments to the unique needs, behaviors, and physiological aspects of a particular species (24).”
From Comparison of animal welfare assessment tools and methodologies: need for an effective approach for captive elephants in Asia (2024) · cites this paper as [24]
Section 3.1 says species-specific protocols are tailored to each species’ biological needs and can use indicators tested for validity and reliability. But it describes these advantages as theoretical and notes that few protocols and validated indicators exist, so it does not establish that the tools generally provide a more precise evaluation. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThis review is the first overview of welfare assessment tools specific to elephants.
“While there have been several reviews of animal welfare frameworks (24–26), to our knowledge, this is the first overview of welfare assessment tools specific to elephants.”
From Comparison of animal welfare assessment tools and methodologies: need for an effective approach for captive elephants in Asia (2024) · cites this paper as [24]
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Animal-based indicators to assess welfare in zoo animals.
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Self-citationIndividual differences in chimpanzee reconciliation relate to social switching behaviour
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Zoo-based amphibian research and conservation breeding programs
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Cortisol: often not the best indicator of stress and poor welfare
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Monclús, L., Carbajal, A., Talló-Parra, O., Sabés‐Alsina, M., Darwich, L., Molina‐López, R. A., & López‐Béjar, M. (2017) · Journal für Ornithologie · doi:10.1007/s10336-016-1424-5 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Measuring peripheral oxytocin and vasopressin in nonhuman primates
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Skovlund, C. R., Kirchner, M. K., Moos, L. W., Alsted, N., Manteca, X., Talló-Parra, O., Stelvig, M., & Forkman, B. (2021) · Animal Welfare · doi:10.7120/09627286.30.1.001 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
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Directions in animal enclosure use studies
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Kalliokoski, O., Jellestad, F., & Murison, R. (2018) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/375667 · Cited by 4
Flagged first, then by citations
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Utilizing vocalizations to gain insight into the affective states of non-human mammals
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“These offer a refined and more precise evaluation of animal welfare by tailoring assessments to the unique needs, behaviors, and physiological aspects of a particular species (24).”
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- Authors
- Tallo-Parra, O., Salas, M., & Manteca, X.
- Affiliations
- School of Veterinary Science, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus UAB, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
- Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (BE)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Manteca, Xavier
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-06-12
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1966
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10294817
- OpenAlex
- W4380485712
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 124
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 2.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Flemish Government
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Keywords
- zoo animal welfare, animal welfare assessment, welfare indicators, behavioural indicators, physiological parameters, zoos and aquariums, captive animals
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