3 day Workshop with PKBSI & Wild Welfare in Indonesia on zoo animal health & welfare

After a successful seminar at the University of Bogor, Java last week,  Heather and Jess travelled to Lampung in Sumatra to meet Wild Welfare’s Dave Morgan and Margaret Whittaker. Together they collaborated with the Indonesian zoo association PKBSI to hold a 3 day workshop on zoo animal health and welfare. Attended by around 40 participants from zoos across Indonesia, the workshop highlighted the importance of good animal welfare in achieving good animal health, focussing on behavioural management and preventative care. The workshop also highlighted the work of Wild Welfare and PKBSI in developing a welfare certification scheme for zoos in Indonesia, and offered participants practical guidance on achieving improved welfare for zoo animals.

 Visual physical examination

 Checking temporal abscess

“Animal welfare is important in all contexts” said Heather, “Whilst we all have differing ethical viewpoints on the role of zoos in society, the reality is that millions of animals are involved in the global wildlife trade for pets, medicines, luxury goods, and even for zoological exhibition. By working with zoos, we can highlight some of the issues within the community, and provide support to assist zoos that are involved in conservation of endemic species, and rehabilitation of animals from trade.”

This is the second collaborative workshop between Wild Welfare, PKBSI and the JMICAWE, and we hope to continue to support progress in zoo animal welfare.

JMICAWE Director at American Association for the Advancement of Science

Attending the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington DC

JMICAWE Director Cathy Dwyer recently presented at the largest science meeting in the world, the 2019 AAAS, in Washington DC. Cathy was part of a delegation funded by the EU to present some of the work and approaches being used in EU projects, particularly the concept of a multi-actors approach to achieving science impact

These projects involve scientists, policy makers, end-users and other stake-holders throughout the world with the aim of sharing knowledge and experience, and ensuring a greater uptake of scientific outcomes than can sometimes be the case.

Cathy shared the platform with Jean-Marc Gautier, a researcher and extension specialist from Institut de l’elevage (IDELE) in France and the coordinator of an EU funded project ‘SheepNet’, and Huw Davies, a sheep farmer and former member of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) from Wales. A good discussion around the difficulties of achieving human behaviour change and uptake of innovations then followed the presentations.

A highlight of the visit was also attending a talk by US neuro-endocrinologist, Robert Sapolsky, from Stanford University who gave a wonderful seminar on the complexities for human behaviour. Cathy says:

‘it was a great treat to be able to hear Professor Sapolsky describing the underlying neurobiology affecting stress and human behaviour, his passion and ability to make a complex story clear and understandable were inspiring. Since then I have been pondering on the linkages to animal welfare, and how we might be able to bring about behavioural changes to improve welfare.’

Next stop, Vietnam..

After a successful week in Indonesia, Jess & Heather continue to Hanoi today, where they will be spending a week in one of Vietnam's National Parks, Cuc Phuong, to run clinical training with Save Vietnam's Wildlife, including work at a pangolin rehabilitation centre.

JMICAWE Director plus colleagues head to The Philippines

JMICAWE Director Prof Cathy Dwyer and her colleagues Dr Fritha Langford (University of Edinburgh) & Prof Marie Haskell (SRUC) will present a 2-day workshop on “Using Animal Behaviour To Improve Animal Welfare” at University of the Philippines' Los Banos (UPLB) Campus next week.

It is a return visit for Cathy who visited the Vet School with Jess Davies in 2018.  Our thanks to Dean Torres (centre of group below) for co-ordinating this visit.

Animal behaviour & welfare training at the University of Bogor

Animal behaviour and welfare training at the University of Bogor

This week Heather and Jess are in Indonesia delivering a 1-day seminar on Clinical animal behaviour, handling and pain management at The University of Bogor Vet school. The seminar, coordinated by Dr Ligaya at Bogor, was attended by 80 veterinary and paraveterinary students and live-streamed to an additional 50 veterinary practitioners.

Dr Ligaya said “Animal welfare and behaviour is of increasing importance to vets in Indonesia, and this subject is very important for improving animal welfare in the clinical environment.”

The JMICAWE hopes to build on this successful seminar to partner with the University of Bogor on further developing their veterinary curriculum in the areas of animal behaviour, welfare and veterinary ethics.

Winter Newsletter 2019

Read our latest Newsletter here:-

https://edin.ac/2DeYJyB