The Wild Enrichment Podcast

Ep. 32- Measuring Demeanour, A Qualitative Tool to Assess Animal Welfare

In this episode, we chat about measuring the demeanour of the animals you work with and how it can be used to improve animal welfare.

Resources/ Further reading: 

• Andreasen, S. N., Wemelsfelder, F., Sandøe, P., & Forkman, B. (2013). The correlation of Qualitative Behavior Assessments with Welfare Quality® protocol outcomes in on-farm welfare assessment of dairy cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 143(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.11.013
• Brydges, N. M., Leach, M., Nicol, K., Wright, R., & Bateson, M. (2011). Environmental enrichment induces optimistic cognitive bias in rats. Animal Behaviour, 81(1), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.09.030
• Walker, J., Dale, A., Waran, N., Clarke, N., Farnworth, M., & Wemelsfelder, F. (2010). The assessment of emotional expression in dogs using a Free Choice Profiling methodology. Animal Welfare (South Mimms, England), 19, 74–84.
• Wemelsfelder, F. (n.d.). How Animals Communicate Quality of Life: The Qualitative Assessment of Behaviour. 12.
• Wemelsfelder, F., Hunter, A. E., Paul, E. S., & Lawrence, A. B. (2012). Assessing pig body language: Agreement and consistency between pig farmers, veterinarians, and animal activists1. Journal of Animal Science, 90(10), 3652–3665. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2011-4691

Ep. 31- The Bear Care Group and the Future of Animal Welfare with Jay Pratte

In this episode, we sit down with Jay Pratte, President of the Bear Care Group and Director of the Miller Park Zoo. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about the origins of the Bear Care Group, AZA's Well-being shift and the future of animal welfare science.

Resources we discussed: 

• https://www.bearcaregroup.org/ 
• Maher, Chloe J., Angela Gibson, Laura M. Dixon, and Heather Bacon. 2021. "Developing a Reliable Welfare Assessment Tool for Captive Hibernatory Bear Species" Animals 11, no. 11: 3090. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113090
• https://greystonebooks.com/collections/else-poulsen
• https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/aza_animal-welfare-strategy.pdf
• https://www.eaza.net/
• https://www.waza.org/ 

Ep. 30- How to become a zookeeper pt. 3 with Marc Brandson

Our third and final part in the "How to become a zookeeper" series. In. this episode we sit down with Marc Brandson, curator, hiring manager and safety guru to chat about networking, resumes, interview tactics and insider tips for you to become a zookeeper! 

Links we talked about: 

• https://www.aza.org/accred-materials
• https://caza.ca/policies-backgrounders/ 
• https://ocean.org 
• https://worksitesafety.ca/category/training/online/ 
• https://www.aalso.org 
• https://aazk.org 

Ep. 29- The AZA shift to wellbeing and what it means for you

In this episode, we talk about AZA's new document "A Strategic Framework for the Wellbeing of Animals". We go over the position statement on the shift to wellbeing, the 5 priorities in the document as well as what this shift means for you in the day-to-day husbandry of animals. 

Here is a link to the framework: https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/aza_animal-welfare-strategy.pdf 

Ep. 28- How to become a zookeeper part 2 with Denise Soufflant

Part 2 of our interviews with hiring managers! We are joined by Denise Soufflant to chat about how to become a zookeeper! 

Ep.27- How to become a Zookeeper with Kelsey Worth

In this episode, I am joined by Kelsey Worth, hiring manager, animal trainer and a keeper who has worked all over the world. We take you through the journey of becoming a zookeeper, from networking, resume dos and don'ts interview tips and tricks and finally, how to get a full-time job when you get your foot in the door! Check it out and have your hiring questions answered! 

Ep. 26- The ins and outs of animal welfare management with Demi Booth

In this episode, we are joined by Demi Booth, an Animal Welfare Specialist. We chat about the ins and outs of what it's like to run an animal welfare/ behavioural husbandry program at a large institution as well as some of the fascinating work Demi has been a part of. 

Check out Demi's work at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demibooth/. 

Links to resources we talked about 

• https://www.eaza.net/academy/courses/ 
• https://www.aza.org/animal-management 

Ep. 25- Sarah Bonser-Blake of Wild Welfare

In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Bonser-Blake, Animal Welfare Feild Manager at Wild Welfare. We talk about animal welfare assessments, some of the great work Wild Welfare is doing and the free Wild About Welfare: Digital Education Programme and much more! 

Check out Wild Welfare at: 

• https://wildwelfare.org 
• https://wildwelfare.org/resources-elearn-programme/ 
• https://www.facebook.com/WildWelfare 
• https://www.instagram.com/wildwelfare/?hl=en 

Ep. 24- Amanda Gobel of Enriching Equines

In this episode, we are joined by Amanda Gobel of Enriching Equines to talk about all things horse welfare and enrichment.

Check out Enriching Equines at:

• https://enrichingequines.com 
• https://www.facebook.com/enrichingequines/ 
• https://www.instagram.com/enrichingequines/ 

Ep. 23- Dealing with Burnout in the Animal Care Industry

Good employee welfare = Good animal welfare! In this episode, we go over some useful tips and tricks to avoid burnout and learn to soar in the animal care industry. Check out my article on this topic as well: https://wildenrichment.com/articles/learn-to-soar-dealing-with-burnout-in-the-animal-care-industry/