[BERG] BERG seminar this week

[Gema Martin-Ordas]

Dear all,

On Wednesday this week at 4pm, Kristine Gandia (University of Stirling) will be talking about behaviour assessment and welfare in zoo-housed animals. Please, see below the title and short abstract for her talk.

This meeting will be in person (Common Room Psychology).

Creating an evidence-based approach to the assessment of behaviour in the RZSS welfare audit process
Providing zoo environments that promote good animal welfare is important for ethical reasons and for the goal of zoos to conserve species and educate the public. In order to continuously improve conditions that promote better welfare of zoo-housed species, their welfare must be assessed. The Five Domains model is a widely accepted welfare assessment framework for captive species. Addressing the behaviour domain can be done with behavioural observations. However, collecting behavioural data through continuous behavioural assessments can be a challenge for zoos due to the diversity of species housed and limited resources and work hours. This leaves many behaviours uncaptured and the cycles of behaviours across the day, year and lifespan unknown. In this study, we are demonstrating how an evidence-based approach to addressing the behaviour domain can be beneficial in validating the behaviour portion of welfare assessments and promoting accuracy in assessments. We collected behavioural data across the day for species of mammals, fish, reptiles and birds. With this data, we were able to directly address specific audit questions and validate responses in the behaviour domain with evidence. Long-term behavioural data can be built up slowly over years to create baselines of behavioural cycles for comparison during welfare assessments, allowing for stronger evidence-based responses. It is beneficial to zoos to accurately assess welfare as this informs interventions they implement to promote positive welfare. An evidence-based approach where baselines of behavioural cycles are established can assist in ensuring this accuracy during assessments and promoting the goals of zoos to improve their animals’ lives.

Best,
Gema

Schedule for future meetings:

Date

Time

Speaker

Topic

Location

02/11/2022

3-5pm

Joint meeting—BERG & BES

TBC

F2F (Common Room, Psych)

09/11/2022

4pm

Francesca de Petrillo (Newcastle University, UK)

Decision-making in primates

Online

16/11/2022

4pm

Stephen Ferrigno (University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA)

Origins of human thought

Online

23/11/2022

4pm

Sarah Weir (University of Stirling)

TBC

Online

30/11/2022

4pm

Sabrina Brando (University of Stirling)

cancelled

07/12/2022

4pm

Gloria Sabbatini (Istc-CNR Unit of Cognitive Primatology & Primate Center, Italy)

Tool use in primates

Online

14/12/2022

3pm

Elias Garcia Pelegrin (University of Cambridge, UK)

Crows and understanding of magic tricks

Online





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