The major functions of modern zoo as:
a) Ex-situ conservation and captive breedin
b) Education, and
c) Research.
The welfare of zoo animals is closely linked to these three functions
| Modern Zoo Functions | Why is Good Welfare so Important? |
|---|---|
| Conservation (which includes Captive Breeding) | Populations must be fit for breeding and reintroduction purposes. Poor welfare can lead to: • Stress (e.g. Asian elephants have poor reproductive records in captivity due to stress, herpes virus infection, foot and musculoskeletal disease) • Suppression of immune function, and • A decrease in reproductive fitness |
| Education | Animals should exhibit natural behaviours to educate the public about their natural habits |
| Research | Healthy animals exhibiting natural behaviours can give us valuable information on how their wild counterparts live and behave. |
MAJOR WELFARE ISSUES IN ZOO ANIMALS
The major welfare issues in zoo animals are as follows:
1) Inadequate knowledge on the needs of zoo animals
2) Zoo designs
3) Improper housing
4) Cage / cubicle design
5) High stress environment
6) Nutrition
7) Overcrowding
8) Health and diseases
1. Inadequate Knowledge on the Needs of Zoo Animals
Like in any other animals, the welfare of zoo animals also comprises of three states - mental, physical and behavioural (Bacon, 2014).
a) Mental Health: It is the emotional wellbeing of zoo animals. Pain, fear and distress may compromise zoo animals’ mental health. Abnormal repetitive behaviours, stereotypy and compulsive behaviours are indicators of compromised mental health.
b) Physical Health: It is the physical wellbeing of zoo animals. Injuries, diseases and pain may compromise physical health.
c) Behavioural Health: It is the animals’ ability to demonstrate a normal behavioural range and to respond normally to novel stimuli.
The above three are essential components for zoo animal welfare. In order to address these components, zoo has to be managed in a scientific manner.
The animals housed in zoos have diverse and complex needs. The ability of zoos to meet these needs is slowed down due to inadequate knowledge on scientific management of wild animals in captive environment. The welfare science is evolving, but the focus has been much on farm animals. Zoo animal welfare is relied upon taking remedial action once indicators of poor welfare are identified in zoo animals. Robust welfare indicators in zoo animals have not been fully developed. As a result most health and husbandry practices are based on tradition rather than empirical scientific evidence (Bacon, 2014).
2. Zoo Designs
The planning and design of Indian zoos conventionally have focussed on shape and size of enclosures. Presently zoo designs rely upon personal observations and interactions with Indian wildlife experts and zoo persons. The CZA has laid down standards and norms in 1992 for the operation of zoos along with technical advice. As a result several sub-standard zoos have been closed and some old zoos with inadequate space for expansion have been relocated with modern designs and facilities (e.g. the Jaipur zoo established in 1779 will soon be transformed into a bird aviary by shifting all the animals from the Jaipur zoo to the Nahargarh Biological Park). The concept of modern zoos is based on animal welfare, conservation breeding, research and education. Therefore, the constructional details are to be taken care keeping in view of mental, physical and behavioural needs of the animals. To address these issues, the CZA recently came out with ‘Design Guidelines for Zoos’ - Mehta and Singh, 2018.
3. Improper Housing
Housing is very important in zoos as wild animals are always under stress due to captive conditions. Further, captive condition may also cause inflicted injuries/traumatic injuries due to limited space particularly during the breeding season. Animals in natural simulated housing help in displaying normal behavioural patterns.
4. Cage / Cubicle Design
Behavioural aspects of animals are very important during construction of zoo. The freedom to express normal behaviour advocates provision of enough space, facilities and company of species own kind. Animals should be able to perform the normal behaviours of its species: normal standing and lying movements, social behaviours, play, grooming, any species specific responses, such as nest building in some species, claw-sharpening in big cats, dust-bathing in birds etc. An important part of this freedom is identifying the normal behaviour of the species, and providing the opportunity or resource for that behaviour to be expressed among zoo animals. This requires a good understanding of the species, and knowledge of what is normal for their behaviour.
Based on the behavioural attributes of animals, the enclosures should be designed in such a way they are near to their natural habitat. For some animals, height of the enclosure is more important than the floor space and this fact must be taken into consideration while enclosures are designed for such animals. Psychological space is more valuable than physical space.
Example: Leopard likes to rest on tree or crocodile likes to wallow in water.
Housing infrastructures should be enriched for proper behavioural expression of such animals.
5. High Stress Environment
The fifth freedom ‘freedom from fear and distress’ advocates ensuring conditions and treatment to avoid mental suffering to animals. Inadequate captive environments, poor nutrition, inappropriate visitor behaviour and poor keeper
training can all create mental suffering and stress for captive animals. Stress induces high cortisol (hormone which regulates metabolism and immune response) levels, inhibiting reproduction, suppressing the immune system, decreasing normal behaviours and inducing abnormal behaviours. Creating a low stress environment can increase normal behaviour and promote animal health and reproduction.
How to Create a Low-stress Environment? Gather information on natural state and needs and try to provide the same in captive conditions like:
· Telos (innate nature of the animal)
· Natural history and ecology
· Feeding behaviour
· Social behaviour
· Habitat
Assess captive state using ethograms and consider enclosure design, diet, keeper interaction, visitor viewing access, husbandry routine, behavioural repertoire, enrichment and enclosure furnishings.
6. Nutrition
Nutritional knowledge of captive animals as a component of management is central to understand the survival and productivity of all wildlife populations whether free range or captive. Though the knowledge in zoo animals’ nutrition has considerably improved, challenges still remain to meet the nutritional requirements for all physiological stages of life to achieve desirable results in
terms of health, reproduction and survivability. Feeding of wild animals in captivity does not include only the provision of balanced diets but also require the skill of feeding management. Thus, basic knowledge about type of feeds consumed by different species, and their nutritive value, feeding behaviour and nutritional requirements for various physiological functions in different species is necessary. Feeding of zoo animals is basically more difficult than that of farm animals. In some of the zoos, feeding is practiced by established thumb rules and previous experiences rather than on scientific feeding practices which are yet to be refined.
After realizing the importance of nutrition in zoo animal health care, a new chapter IV A in Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 has been introduced to establish a Central Zoo Authority to ensure proper housing and nutrition of wild animals in captivity.
7 Overcrowding
Most of the zoos are overcrowded with more number of animals than their capacity with related welfare issues in housing, feeding and healthcare. The overcrowding could be due to breeding of the wild animals in captivity or due to shifting of rescued animals from human habitat. In addition, low budgets and less scope for expansion also led to overcrowding. Because of these reasons, the zoo authorities are forced to stop breeding of some species which again is a welfare concern.
8. Health and Diseases
In general captive animals live longer than their wild counterparts. But is increased longevity a good welfare indicator? We need to look at quality of life also which includes health and diseases. Disease is detrimental to welfare, and it may be exacerbated by stress factors in captivity. Captive animals may suffer from disease syndromes not recorded in their counterparts in wild conditions (Bacon, 2014).
Example 1: Infectious disease like Human TB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), Salmonellosis, E.coli infections etc.
Example 2: Husbandry-related disease like Foot problems in elephants
Example 3: Nutritional disorders like hyperparathyroidism in large cats.
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