Conservation in Action 2025 (EXTERNAL SHARE) - Flipbook - Page 30
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WELFARE AT THE FOREFRONT
In 2025, our Animal Behaviour and Welfare Coordinator, Naomi Frost, completed a welfare assessment
for every single animal we care for as part of our comprehensive animal welfare assessment process. Our
assessments require expert input from our animal keeping team, animal curators and veterinarians to
achieve a holistic overview of each of our animal’s welfare state. Our process is designed to identify any
areas for welfare enhancement and our actions tracking process ensures continuous improvement to
our animals’ lives.
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Naomi is currently conducting a PhD studentship with the University of
Wolverhampton to inform methodology for zoo animal welfare assessment,
building an evidence-based approach for the enhancement of current
welfare assessment protocols. With far-reaching impact, this project will
have a positive in昀氀uence on animal welfare in zoos across Europe and
further drive best practice in animal welfare assessment.
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In 2025 we saw a 12% decrease in the number of welfare enhancements
identified compared to 2024, evidencing our continual commitment in
striving for the best welfare possible.
ENHANCING GUEST EXPERIENCE
In 2025, our Animal Behaviour and Welfare Coordinator implemented our
Visitor Animal Experience Assessment (VAE) process in conjunction with our
animal keeping team, animal curators and education team resulting in a
100% completion rate for all species.
Our VAE assessment process ensures a positive experience for both our animals and visitors during
all animal encounters and evidences our continual commitment to ensuring the best welfare for all our
animals.
In another collaborative project, our Animal Behaviour and Welfare Coordinator and education team
developed guidelines for the Assessment of Animal Welfare During Conservation Education Talks. These
guidelines have been developed following a full review of our speaker systems, speaker placements
and animal behaviour observations to ensure our education talks are animal welfare friendly. These
guidelines have since been disseminated to UK zoos at multiple scienti昀椀c conferences to improve
animal welfare on a national scale.
