animal welfare

This is by no means all the birds kept in open air/hoofstock yards, so please add anything you feel belongs here. Ostrich Emu Greater rhea Greater flamingo African sacred ibis White ibis African spoonbill Saddle-billed stork Marabou stork Yellow-billed stork Blue crane Black-crowned crane East...

Really sucks that this is my first created thread but did not see anyone mention this which sounds serious (to be fair just posted today by Ceta Base). Any thoughts on this? Ceta Base

How have you noticed a difference in animal care or welfare philosophy in AZA zoos in the US vs EAZA zoos in Europe? Genuinely curious to learn more about the differences from people with experience in either type of facility. This is a question mostly for keepers but volunteers and guests...

The title just deserves a separate thread. Elephants are not people, rules Colorado Supreme Court I think we really need a shame prize for the worst animal-related charity in 2025. I hope the Cheyenne zoo did not lose much money on this silly lawsuit.

I found this study interesting. Definitely suggests that in some cases, maybe anti-zoo activists have a point about stress in captive animals — but in my opinion, that doesn’t take away from the importance of zoos for conservation efforts. Frontiers | Stress in wildlife: comparison of the...

A recent paper which it seems was not much discussed here on Zoochat: Survival improvements of marine mammals in zoological institutions mirror historical advances in human longevity Abstract An intense public debate has fuelled governmental bans on marine mammals held in zoological...

How good is the welfare of Canadian zoos. The Toronto zoo is near the top but many other zoos are to be thought about on their welfare. I may need help figuring out which zoos have the best welfare. Rated from 1-10 also please add reasons why. For me the biggest zoo in question is african lion...

Very sad news for Chinese zoos. Xiaohe (meaning little river in Chinese), the largest pure captive saltwater crocodile from China-Africa Wildlife Park, Xiamen, has passed away a few days ago due to illness. Xiaohe was born in Singapore and later handled to the Taiwanese crocodile farmer Mr...

Does anyone know if there are any planned refurbishments or new exhibits coming next year? I could see the monkey house being re-done as they seem to be doing a lot to that area of the zoo.

Currently reading Heini Hediger's Studies of the psychology and behaviour of captive animals in zoos and circuses and Wild Animals in Captivity. Also reading David Hancocks' A Different Nature. I'm wondering what other books have been historically important for modernizing captive animal...

Something that anti-zoo people seem to bring up a lot as a reason why zoos are bad is stereotypic, stress-driven behavior. "Zoochosis", if you want to use their lingo. A well known example of this is pacing in carnviorans, like felids, ursids, canids, etc. As much as it hurts me, a longtime zoo...

This thread is about wild and zoo animals which voluntarily enter, stay or return to their exhibits. To show by examples, that animals do not understand nor desire 'freedom', but are strong materialists, going whenever there is food and safety. A striking example is from Stuttgart zoo, because...

Hi there, I'm looking for some guidance when it comes to protecting open air animal exhibits from visitors' personal objects falling in. For instance, do you use any type of netting or plastic barriers at/under railings? Open to any conversation and ideas, successes and challenges. I did a quick...

Nowadays, large carnivores get often large and well designed enclosures (in particular big cats, bears and wolfs). While many smaler to medium sized species like smaller feline and cannid species in particular still get the weong end of the stick. They often live in exhibits made decades ago...

A new study has found that 84% of mammal species (n = 59 spp. in eight orders) live longer in zoos than in the wild. The effect was especially pronounced in species with “fast” life histories, which typically have higher extrinsic mortality rates under free-living conditions. Comparative...

Something to share & keep in mind next time we visit a zoo... Often we forget that we're not the quietest species. Then how does noise affect the welfare of animals in captivity? Well, If you build a record of the noise level at your local zoo (using apps such NoiseTube for example), you will...

Hi, I am doing a research investigation on zoos- a 3-fold investigation centered around the contribution/value of the most reputable zoos w.r.t. (1) Conservation –where conservation naturally refers to in-situ conservation; and therefore I will be tackling the topics of extirpation, captive...

Dear colleagues, I would like to introduce my newsletter ZOOLINX which was originally produced to assist zoological establishments and their stakeholders in Romania. It has evolved over the last few years and is now viewed by interested parties around the world. It is not political and...