Abstract

Animal welfare assessment is a core element of zoo management, helping zoos achieve positive welfare state for their animals. Welfare should be assessed regularly to evaluate, monitor, and improve the standards of care. The research on welfare assessment and its development process increased after the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) launched the 2023 Animal Welfare Goals, which include mandatory welfare assessment process for national and regional zoo associations. In Indonesia, many zoos don’t have their own welfare assessment and find it difficult to adapt generic tools due to variation in husbandry, resources, and facilities. This project aims to create a useful, accurate, and reliable assessment tool by developing a set of 21 questions with 5-point scale, complemented by an informed set of guidance documents. Twelve anoa keepers from seven zoos and 22 Sumatran tiger keepers from 10 zoos trialled this tool by completing the assessment without the informed tool (Stage 1), with the informed tool (Stage 2), and by the independent rater (Stage 3). Score difference between stages was counted and grouped into absolute, adjacent (1-point difference), and greater than adjacent (≥2-point difference) agreement, and among raters from the same zoo with the uninformed and informed tool. Correlation tests were examined to see the association between pre-assessment interview and assessment score. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was examined to measure reliability. Pre- and post-assessment interviews were conducted to gather perceptions on animal welfare and feedback about the tool. Results showed the informed tool could increase inter-rater agreement from anoa and Sumatran tiger raters with the independent rater and among raters from the same zoo, indicated by a higher percentage of absolute agreement when using the informed tool. All correlation tests were non-significant. Sumatran tiger raters had higher reliability, indicated by more zoos with a moderate ICC value. They had higher pre-assessment interview scores on the animal welfare definition, training experiences, and critical review of zoo welfare policy. Post-assessment interview showed that raters gave positive feedback about the informed tool because it’s clear and covers a range of topics. Improvements were suggested to improve clarity and wording, adding questions by separating multiple factors. This tool shows reliable results and provides high agreement, which is a promising tool for Indonesian zoos to evaluate and monitor their animal welfare with limited resources and facilities. The national association could adapt and utilize this tool as necessary to meet the WAZA 2023 Animal Welfare Goals.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Award Sponsors

North of England Zoological Society (Chester Zoo)

Supervisor

Joanna Newbolt, Richard Preziosi

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

Embargo Period

2025-08-22

Deposit Date

August 2025

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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