A survey of the attitudes of stakeholders in the zoo industry towards the husbandry requirements of captive Great Apes

Exploration of cultural norms and behavioural beliefs about zoo animal behaviour, welfare, ethics and husbandry practices in a sample of the international zoo community

Beliefs influence the intentions of people to behave in certain ways towards animals. This study presents survey responses from 237 people working in zoos in China and Europe and describes their demographic characteristics. It explores their beliefs about zoo animal behaviour, welfare and ethical issues, and zoo practices, using a survey methodology. These beliefs may be influenced by individual demographic or cultural factors such as age, gender and region of employment, as well as experiential or situative 'norms' within the work environment. Beliefs were significantly influenced by the region of employment with Chinese respondents beliefs being significantly different to beliefs from respondents in the United Kingdom or the rest of Europe. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the survey generated clusters of people from both regions who indicated positive beliefs about zoo animal welfare as well as clu sters indicating a lack of understanding of some zoo animal welfare issues. In addition, a cluster suggesting cognitive dissonance between beliefs about animals welfare and zoo practices was generated from Chinese responses. Factor analysis identified that prioritisation of in-situ conservation within good animal welfare was a key feature in Chinese respondents, whereas European beliefs prioritising in-situ conservation were distinct from those on supporting good animal welfare. This paper identifies similarities and differences in beliefs about zoo animal welfare and zoo husbandry practices between Europe and China, and discusses the underlying norms and values that these beliefs may reflect.

Why Are Enrichment Practices in Zoos Difficult to Implement Effectively?

Simple Summary

Zookeepers often introduce enrichment practices in which they provide animals with diverse stimuli and challenges to stimulate mental and physical activity, but enrichment can be difficult to implement and the enrichment used in zoos is not always effective at improving animal welfare. Limited information is available on how zookeepers apply enrichment practices in zoos. To identify some of the reasons that zoos cannot always provide effective enrichment, we interviewed keepers across multiple zoos. Keepers that work with big cats were deemed particularly well suited to the study, given the extensive recommendations in the literature for this group of animals in zoos. We discovered that many impediments obstructed the capacity of zookeepers to enrich animals effectively, such as conflicting priorities, uncertainty about which enrichment practices are effective, and concerns about the perceptions of visitors. To illustrate, zoos often impose routines for keepers to address more immediate and visible problems, such as sick animals or visitors who do not like unnatural objects in the enclosure. Hence, the enrichment and stimulation of animals is not always perceived as important or pressing and, therefore, may be deferred or neglected. We suggest that greater clarity and increased transparency on the objectives and means of assessing enrichment could curb confusion surrounding enrichment practices in zoos.

Abstract

The good intentions of zoos to introduce enrichment practices that stimulate animals mentally and physically are not always achievable. Changes to the policies and procedures in organisations are difficult to fulfil for a range of reasons frequently investigated in change management literature. The implementation of these changes can be the source of ineffective attempts to generate positive interventions in organisations. In this study, we investigate whether interventions to improve animal management in zoos through enrichment are subject to implementation impediments. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with 23 keepers working with big cats across 12 zoos globally provided valuable insights into the barriers and enablers to the implementation of enrichment. Keepers participated voluntarily and worked in accredited zoos across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, south-east Asia, South Africa, and the United States of America. Thematic analysis of the data revealed five key themes that described some of the challenges zoos and keepers experience when implementing enrichment for big cats, in their words: “let’s just be cautious”, “purely surviving”, “struggle to understand the goal”, “can’t always provide what you should”, and “judge the effectiveness”. These themes provide additional insights into potential areas for improvement, including greater attention to the benefits of enrichment for animal mental health and increased transparency around enrichment objectives in zoos.