Animal Welfare Consulting with SAAMBR in South Africa

Sabrina Brando spent the last week with the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) at uShaka Marine World, where she worked with care staff on animal welfare assessment and care, and the importance of evidence-based decision making according to the latest, internationally recognised findings and practices.

Training emphasised the 24/7 approach to promoting optimal welfare for animals in human care, and included sessions dedicated to environmental enrichment, animal training, the human-animal relationship, and welfare research in particular. Throughout the week, focus remained on the key roles played by data and records for making evidence-based decisions on animal welfare. SAAMBR stated, “Not only will this data assist in the care of the animals at uShaka Sea World, but when published, will assist global animal conservation efforts. Caring for animals is, now more than ever before, a global responsibility. We are looking forward to implementing Sabrina’s valuable lessons and we are grateful that she travelled all the way to South Africa to share her wisdom and insight with us.”

External Supervisor MSc Thesis

Sabrina Brando is delighted to be one of the external supervisors to Sheryl Bradley's MSc thesis, a human-animal relationship & behaviour study in different species based at Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) London Zoo, the world’s oldest scientific zoo that was opened in 1828 just two years after the founding of ZSL. Sheryl is studying with the University of Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in their programme MSc International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law, which aims to hone students’ scientific study and research skills to apply scientific evidence for the improvement of animal welfare globally.

EAZA Animal Welfare Forum 2020 Early Bird Registration

Deadline: 22 January

Are you interested in attending EAZA’s Animal Welfare Forum? Don’t miss the Early Bird registration deadline tomorrow, 22 January! 2020 marks EAZA’s first forum of this kind, and the event will focus on a theme of “Bridging the Gap”. The conference will be hosted by Apenheul Primate Park Foundation in The Netherlands this coming March with the goal of uniting zoos and aquariums, welfare organisations and academic institutions to bridge the gap between animal welfare research and application.

Fostering Empathy for Animals - A Conservation Psychology Webinar

This Thursday, 23rd of January, Antioch University New England’s Conservation Psychology Institute is hosting a free webinar about psychology and wildlife conservation. The topic will be presented by Kathayoon Khalil, PhD, who is the Conservation Impact Manager for the Oregon Zoo. You can read the full webinar description below:

“One of the central constructs of conservation psychology is empathy, our ability to perceive, understand, and care about the experiences of another. In this webinar, Kathayoon will discuss the concept of empathy and how it can be applied to wildlife conservation, particularly through the work of informal education.”

To register, visit the event page here!

3,000 Facebook Followers

Thank you to all who helped us reach a landmark of 3,000 likes and followers on Facebook! We are honoured to be part of the global animal care community, and we are grateful to all of you for being part of our AnimalConcepts community. It is only together that we can make a difference for the wellbeing of animals and the people who care for them around the world.

If you would like to keep up with our daily updates, news, and the latest research in the field, please follow us through the icon links at the bottom of this message!

If this was forwarded to you, subscribe HERE for our future newsletters!