Abstract
Simple SummaryAnimal welfare is gaining attention regarding the conservation of species not only due to ethical and legal reasons but also because optimal welfare can ensure stable and healthy populations. Currently, there is a lack of protocols that help to objectively assess welfare of wild animals in captivity. In this study, we have developed and applied a protocol for the assessment of welfare in captive dorcas gazelles (Gazella dorcas). We have gathered information from existing literature about the biology of this species in wild conditions, as well as in zoo husbandry, breeding, management and care guidelines developed for this species. We took a protocol developed for the on-farm welfare assessment in cattle as a reference and suggested 23 indicators that we considered useful to assess welfare in captive dorcas gazelles. To test the utility of this protocol, we then applied it in five groups of dorcas gazelles from three different zoos and we detected areas for improvement in all of the groups assessed.There is a lack of protocols specifically developed for the assessment of welfare of wild animals in captivity, even when it is known that providing good standards of welfare is important. The aim of this study was the development and the application of a protocol for the assessment of welfare in captive dorcas gazelles. The protocol was mainly developed taking into account the protocol for the assessment of welfare in cattle from the Welfare Quality® project, the available literature of the biology of this species and the Husbandry Guidelines developed for captive breeding and management of this species. The protocol was specifically developed for dorcas gazelles and included four principles, 10 criteria and 23 animal and environmental-based indicators. To test its utility, this protocol was applied to five different groups of gazelles from three different zoos. Its application made possible to detect areas for improvement in all groups assessed.
Highlights
Despite the ethical [1] and legal [2] importance of welfare in wild animals kept in captivity and that the insurance of optimal animal welfare is essential for the establishment and maintenance of Animals 2018, 8, 111; doi:10.3390/ani8070111 www.mdpi.com/journal/animalsAnimals 2018, 8, 111 viable populations of animals in good health [3], there is a lack of standardized and validated tools to assess welfare in captive animals.Welfare assessment protocols can provide such tools by using a combination of several welfare indicators that provide information gathered by simple surveys, enclosure inspections and remote observation of animals
These four principles lead to 12 criteria that allowed for the development of welfare assessment indicators: absence of prolonged hunger and thirst; comfort around resting, thermal comfort and ease of movement; absence of injuries, diseases and pain induced by management procedures; and expression of social and other behaviours, good human-animal relationship and positive emotional state [13]
The protocol developed for the welfare assessment of captive dorcas gazelles included four principles, 10 criteria and 23 indicators (Table 1)
Summary
Welfare assessment protocols can provide such tools by using a combination of several welfare indicators that provide information gathered by simple surveys, enclosure inspections and remote observation of animals. These protocols offer a simple, economic way to assess the welfare of captive animals, as well as to gauge the effect on animal well-being when an improvement is made. Objective protocols to assess welfare in cattle, poultry and pigs have been developed. These protocols are mainly based on animal-based measures, they have environmental or resource-based measures [4]. Resource-based indicators assess the environment surrounding the animal but not the animal itself (e.g., water provision, enclosure size and design and size and composition of a group or environmental enrichment)
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