In this episode, I chat with Dr. Isabella Clegg, Director of Animal Welfare Expertise. We discuss a wide range of topics relating to animal welfare and enrichment including bridging the gap between research and practical application of animal welfare concepts, common challenges, the importance of team work, and much more!  Resources...

In this episode, we chat about measuring the demeanour of the animals you work with and how it can be used to improve animal welfare. Resources/ Further reading:  Andreasen, S. N., Wemelsfelder, F., Sandøe, P., & Forkman, B. (2013). The correlation of Qualitative Behavior Assessments with Welfare Quality® protocol outcomes in on-farm welfare assessment of dairy cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 143(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2012.11.013 Brydges, N. M., Leach,...

In this episode, we sit down with Jay Pratte, President of the Bear Care Group and Director of the Miller Park Zoo. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about the origins of the Bear Care Group, AZA's Well-being shift and the future of animal welfare science. Resources we discussed:  https://www.bearcaregroup.org/  Maher, Chloe J., Angela Gibson, Laura M. Dixon, and Heather Bacon. 2021. "Developing a Reliable Welfare Assessment Tool for Captive Hibernatory Bear Species" Animals 11, no....

Our third and final part in the "How to become a zookeeper" series. In. this episode we sit down with Marc Brandson, curator, hiring manager and safety guru to chat about networking, resumes, interview tactics and insider tips for you to become a zookeeper!  Links we talked about:  https://www.aza.org/accred-materials https://caza.ca/policies-backgrounders/  https://ocean.org  https://worksitesafety.ca/category/training/online/  https://www.aalso.org  https://aazk.org 

In this episode, we talk about AZA's new document "A Strategic Framework for the Wellbeing of Animals". We go over the position statement on the shift to wellbeing, the 5 priorities in the document as well as what this shift means for you in the day-to-day husbandry of animals.  Here is a link to the framework: https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/aza_animal-welfare-strategy.pdf 

Part 2 of our interviews with hiring managers! We are joined by Denise Soufflant to chat about how to become a zookeeper! 

In this episode, I am joined by Kelsey Worth, hiring manager, animal trainer and a keeper who has worked all over the world. We take you through the journey of becoming a zookeeper, from networking, resume dos and don'ts interview tips and tricks and finally, how to get a full-time job when you get your foot in the door! Check it out and have your hiring questions answered! 

In this episode, we are joined by Demi Booth, an Animal Welfare Specialist. We chat about the ins and outs of what it's like to run an animal welfare/ behavioural husbandry program at a large institution as well as some of the fascinating work Demi has been a part of.  Check out Demi's work at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demibooth/.  Links to resources we talked about  https://www.eaza.net/academy/courses/  https://www.aza.org/animal-management 

In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Bonser-Blake, Animal Welfare Feild Manager at Wild Welfare. We talk about animal welfare assessments, some of the great work Wild Welfare is doing and the free Wild About Welfare: Digital Education Programme and much more!  Check out Wild Welfare at:  https://wildwelfare.org  https://wildwelfare.org/resources-elearn-programme/  https://www.facebook.com/WildWelfare  https://www.instagram.com/wildwelfare/?hl=en 

In this episode, we are joined by Amanda Gobel of Enriching Equines to talk about all things horse welfare and enrichment. Check out Enriching Equines at: https://enrichingequines.com  https://www.facebook.com/enrichingequines/  https://www.instagram.com/enrichingequines/ 

Good employee welfare = Good animal welfare! In this episode, we go over some useful tips and tricks to avoid burnout and learn to soar in the animal care industry. Check out my article on this topic as well: https://wildenrichment.com/articles/learn-to-soar-dealing-with-burnout-in-the-animal-care-industry/ 

Animal welfare is a continuously evolving science and proactively keeping on top of the welfare needs of every animal in a collection is a tremendous undertaking, but looking critically at the people and processes around you as well as your own skillset is a great place to start, find out more on today's podcast!    Link to full article: https://wildenrichment.com/articles/are-you-leaving-welfare-on-the-table/

In this short episode, I talk about my thoughts on reptile enrichment and where I think everyone should start when they are looking to make a reptile's life more enriching and increase their welfare. 

Today we are sitting down with the incredibly talented Sarah Feliciano and Matthew Owens to chat about their company, Zoo Enrichment Lab.  Check them out on: Their website: https://zooenrichmentlab.com  Their shop: https://zooenrichmentlab.com/store  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zooenrichmentlab/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zooenrichmentlab/ 

In this episode I sit down with Emily Cain and Nick Naitove of WildThink and we chat about their company, the enrichment vending machine as well as some important topics surrounding enrichment.  Check them out at: https://www.wildthink.org https://www.instagram.com/wildthinkenrichment/?hl=en  https://www.facebook.com/wildthinkenrichment/ 

This podcast is one that has been in the works for a while now! I’ve spent a lot of time creating enrichment plans and behavioural husbandry programs for a variety of exotic animals, and many of the key concepts and ideas transfer over to the domestic animal world. So let’s take a deep dive into what a behavioural husbandry program for a domestic horse might look like and how it will not only benefit your beloved horse, but also allow you to have fun doing it! Check out my article:...

In this episode Ben and I sit down to talk about how to go about setting a baseline for an enrichment program and what that even means. We also answer some audience questions about what to do with an animal that just wont interact with enrichment! Enjoy! 

In this episode we are once again joined by Ben! We talk about how you can go about getting your team on board with an enrichment program and what to do when a team member won't budge. We also talk about how important it is to get everyone on your team on the same page when it comes to enrichment evaluation and overall interpretation of animal behaviour. Enjoy!

An important concept to always keep in the back of your mind with behavioural husbandry, is the fact that you are trying to enrich the lives of the individual animals under your care and not the entire species. What I mean by that is, when you are designing an enrichment program, you need to design the program to benefit the individual animal or group of individuals that you are caring for, many of these individuals will have special needs, tendencies and behaviours that could stray from what...

I think that the ability to think critically and make “good” decisions is one of the most important skills in animal care. Luckily It’s a skill that can be learned and improved upon with some practice. Here’s a podcast on how to do just that, check it out! Based on the article "How to Think Critically and Make Better Decisions in Animal Care" https://wildenrichment.com/articles/how-to-think-critically-and-make-better-decisions-in-animal-care

In this podcast we are once again joined by Ben Martin. We start by talking about the various effects the pandemic has had on the animal care industry as a whole as well as how to deal with professional burnout from the pandemic. We also Answer some questions from our audience including data surrounding enrichment and how to use it.

In todays episode we once again sit down with Ben Martin to chat enrichment. We go over the results of the Enrichment Challenge survey and what those results mean for the industry. We also talk about how to save time with enrichment and the debate between natural and non-natural enrichment items.

To check out Widukind Enrichments work, check out the links below!https://www.widukind-enrichments.dehttps://www.instagram.com/widukindenrichments/?hl=enhttps://www.facebook.com/widukindenrichments/ 

Times are tough for zoos all around the world right now and these tough times often negatively effect enrichment programs. Getting community involvement in an enrichment program is a great way to still have a great program during these tough times! 

In this podcast I sit down with Ben Martin and we talk about how browse can be used as a tool in an enrichment program and how it can help bridge the gap between environmental enrichment and nutrition. We also talk about the many ways browse can be enriching for a variety of animals as well as how to go about starting your own browse program.