The Role of Husbandry in The Health and Well-being of Exotic Animals in Captivity

According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, animal husbandry is defined as the physiological, biological, psychological and social needs of animals.1 Every zoo that is AZA accredited needs to fulfill these needs correctly for the species and on a regular basis. In the UK, the ‘five freedoms’ are used to determine proper animal husbandry: freedom from injury and disease; freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition; freedom from thermal or physical distress; freedom to express ‘normal’ behaviors; and freedom from fear.4 Other freedoms have been proposed – freedom from boredom and freedom of animal to exert control over it’s quality of life, to name a few – but the five have remained as structure to determine proper animal husbandry.4 Many different employees are needed to fulfill these needs, from animal keepers to curators to veterinarians. Each aspect of animal husbandry, as described by the AZA, will be briefly addressed.

Physiological and biological needs are what the animal needs to do in order for its body to function properly. These needs include, but aren’t limited to, breathing, food, water, sleep, excretion and homeostasis. They are the basics for life, and are required for the animal to keep living. In zoo animals, food is a crucial aspect because each animal has a special diet; sometimes, it’s unknown exactly what that diet is because not enough research has been done on that species. Animal keepers notice a problem with the animal by paying attention to the animal’s behavior. Normally, animals that are sick won’t show until there’s advanced disease because if they show they are sick in the wild, they would be easily caught by predators.3 The altered behavior is different for every species, and anim...

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2. Bergmuller R. Animal Personality and Behavioural Syndromes. In: Kappeler P, editor. Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms. Germany: Springer, 2010. p. 587-621.

3. Fowler ME. Behavioral Clues for Detection of Illness in Wild Animals: Models in Camelids and Elephants. In: Miller RE, Fowler ME, editors. Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine Current Therapy, volume 6. St Louis: Elsevier; 2008. p. 33-49.

4. Kagan R, Veasey J. Challenges of Zoo Animal Welfare. In: Kleiman DG, Thompson KV, Baer CK, editors. Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques for Zoo Management, 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. p. 11-21.

5. van Schaik CP. Social Learning and Culture in Animals. In: Kappeler P, editor. Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms. Germany: Springer, 2010. p. 623-53.