Brookfield Zoo

To address the professional need for animal-based welfare monitoring tools, the Chicago Zoological Society’s Center for the Science of Animal Welfare recently developed 12 species-specific Welfare Score Sheets for tracking the well-being of individuals representing a variety of mammal, bird, and reptile species. These sheets allow keepers to quantify their qualitative assessments of individual animal well-being. This project will test how sheets can be incorporated most effectively into daily animal management and institutional welfare review processes. By applying score sheets, institutions will be able to identify emerging welfare issues proactively, examine whether attempts to address such issues are successful, and quantitatively assess the impact of animal management decisions on individual well-being.