From concept to action: Operationalising animal welfare strategies in zoos and aquaria
Files
(Published version)
Date
2025
Authors
Partoon, J.K.
Sherwen, S.
Smith, M.F.L.
Riley, L.
Whittaker, A.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Animal Welfare, 2025; 34:e79-1-e79-12
Statement of Responsibility
Justine Kate Partoon, Sally Sherwen, Mark Ford Lester Smith, Lisa Riley, Alexandra Whittaker
Conference Name
Abstract
Zoos and aquaria have an ethical responsibility to ensure the welfare of the animals in their care. Developing and implementing an animal welfare strategy is central to fulfilling this obligation. An animal welfare strategy is a comprehensive framework that integrates animal welfare into all zoo operations, policies, and procedures, aiming to embed effective animal welfare practices across the entire organisation and extend these practices into the broader community. The strategy should reflect a clear ongoing commitment to animal welfare, incorporate the latest developments in animal welfare science, ensure an evidence-based approach, and be fully integrated into all policies and procedures. In addition, the strategy should provide a clear framework, measurable goals, and key performance indicators (KPIs), to ensure a structured, objective approach to animal welfare monitoring and enhancement. Creating a strategy involves nine key steps. Structuring the strategy around these steps through the lens of four primary domains: animal care; animal welfare assessment; communication; and evaluation, ensures a comprehensive institution-wide commitment to animal welfare. Once established, the strategy should be sufficiently flexible to ensure continued self-examination and improvement, and an ability to incorporate key insights from the rapidly developing field of animal welfare science. Implementing such a strategy requires sustained effort, strong leadership, and an organisational culture that supports shared values and continual improvement.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 December 2025
Access Status
Rights
©The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.