Recognising the importance of wildlife welfare for World Wildlife Day

Wednesday 3rd March marks the 2021 World Wildlife Day (https://www.wildlifeday.org/), which this year will celebrate forest-based livelihoods and seeks to promote forest and forest wildlife management for people, animals and the planet. The aim is to promote a sustainable future for humans, forests and forest-dwelling wildlife species, recognising the need for practices that protect these crucial natural systems.

Here at JMICAWE we have had a long term focus on the welfare of wildlife, whether these are free-living or captive, recognising our responsibilities to ensure that they are protected and to consider where veterinary medicine can play a role in their welfare. As we are all aware with the current pandemic, the relationships between ourselves and wildlife are tightly intertwined in ensuring the health of the planet and those who live on it. JMICAWE vet, Dr Heather Bacon, is an expert in bear and zoo animal medicine, and is involved with several groups and organisations to help promote wildlife welfare. She has contributed to workshops on the welfare of bears and other captive wildlife, including conducting the world’s first ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis of a pangolin, one of the most trafficked animals in the world. In collaboration with Wild Welfare, JMICAWE has developed an accessible and interactive digital resource ‘Wild about Welfare’ to help promote the welfare of captive wildlife through a focus on good husbandry and meeting an animal’s welfare needs (https://wildwelfare.org/uk-charity-tackles-global-animal-welfare-issues-with-digital-education-programme/ or https://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/jeanne-marchig-centre/cpd/wild-welfare).

JMICAWE director, Prof Cathy Dwyer, also chairs the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, which has a remit to consider the welfare of free-living wildlife in Scotland. The Commission has just published a report on the welfare of wild deer in Scotland (https://www.gov.scot/publications/management-of-wild-deer-scottish-animal-welfare-commission-response/), and is currently considering the welfare of beavers, and the welfare implications of the management of wild rodents. Both Heather and Cathy will be speakers at the forthcoming Wild Animal Welfare Committee conference on 19th April, which will address the topic: Wild Animal Welfare: Does it matter? Can it be assessed? How can it be optimised? See https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8028284674528591630 for more information and to register for the conference.