Baumgartner Katrin, Hüttner Tim, Clegg Isabella L K, Hartmann Manuel Garcia, Garcia-Párraga Daniel, Manteca Xavier, Mercera Birgitta, Monreal-Pawlowsky Tania, Pilenga Cristina, Ternes Kerstin, Tallo-Parra Oriol, Vaicekauskaite Ruta, Fersen Lorenzo von, Yon Lisa, Delfour Fabienne
Behavioral Ecology and Conservation Lab, Nuremberg Zoo, 90480 Nuremberg, Germany.
Animal Welfare Expertise, Winchester SO22 6QU, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Feb 23;14(5):701. doi: 10.3390/ani14050701.
Ensuring high standards of animal welfare is not only an ethical duty for zoos and aquariums, but it is also essential to achieve their conservation, education, and research goals. While for some species, animal welfare assessment frameworks are already in place, little has been done for marine animals under human care. Responding to this demand, the welfare committee of the European Association for Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) set up a group of experts on welfare science, cetacean biology, and zoo animal medicine across Europe. Their objective was to develop a comprehensive tool to evaluate the welfare of bottlenose dolphins (), named Dolphin-WET. The tool encompasses 49 indicators that were either validated through peer review or management-based expertise. The first of its kind, the Dolphin-WET is a species-specific welfare assessment tool that provides a holistic approach to evaluating dolphin welfare. Inspired by Mellor's Five Domains Model and the Welfare Quality, its hierarchical structure allows for detailed assessments from overall welfare down to specific indicators. Through combining 37 animal-based and 12 resource-based indicators that are evaluated based on a two- or three-level scoring, the protocol offers a detailed evaluation of individual dolphins. This approach allows for regular internal monitoring and targeted welfare management, enabling caretakers to address specific welfare concerns effectively.
确保高标准的动物福利不仅是动物园和水族馆的道德责任，也是实现其保护、教育和研究目标的关键。虽然对于一些物种，动物福利评估框架已经存在，但对于人工饲养的海洋动物却做得很少。为了回应这一需求，欧洲水生哺乳动物协会（EAAM）的福利委员会成立了一个由欧洲各地福利科学、鲸类生物学和动物园动物医学专家组成的小组。他们的目标是开发一种全面的工具来评估宽吻海豚的福利，名为“海豚福利评估工具（Dolphin-WET）”。该工具包含49项指标，这些指标要么经过同行评审验证，要么基于管理专业知识确定。作为同类中的首个工具，Dolphin-WET是一种针对特定物种的福利评估工具，它提供了一种全面评估海豚福利的方法。受梅勒的五领域模型和福利质量的启发，其层次结构允许从整体福利到具体指标进行详细评估。通过结合37项基于动物和12项基于资源的指标，并根据两级或三级评分进行评估，该方案对个体海豚进行了详细评估。这种方法允许进行定期的内部监测和有针对性的福利管理，使饲养员能够有效解决特定的福利问题。
