C-Well: The development of a welfare assessment index for captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Abstract

The field of welfare science and public concern for animal welfare is growing, with the focus broadening from animals on farms to those in zoos and aquaria. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are the most common captive cetaceans, and relevant regulatory standards are principally resource-based and regarded as minimum requirements. In this study, the farm animal Welfare Quality® assessment was adapted to measure the welfare of bottlenose dolphins, with a similar proportion of animal-based measures (58.3%). The ‘C-Well® ‘ assessment included eleven criterion and 36 species-specific measures developed in situ at three marine mammal zoological facilities, tested for feasibility and accuracy, and substantiated by published literature on wild and captive dolphins and veterinary and professional expertise. C-Well® scores can be calculated for each measure or combined to achieve an overall score, which allows for the comparison of welfare among individuals, demographics, and facilities. This work represents a first step in quantifying and systematically measuring welfare among captive cetaceans and can be used as a model for future development in zoos and aquaria, as well as a means to support benchmarking, industry best practices, and certification.

Development and Implementation of Baseline Welfare Assessment Protocol for Captive Breeding of Wild Ungulate—Punjab Urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis, Lydekker 1913)

“…Using the Welfare Quality ® protocol for farm animals as a reference, welfare assessment protocols for several wild species have been developed, including those for mink (Neovison vison), foxes (Vulpes spp.) [47], dorcas gazelles (Gazella dorcas) [10], and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) [47,53].…”

“…In the case of mink and foxes [47], the developed welfare assessment protocol needs three visits to each farm. In the case of bottlenose dolphins [53], the protocol requires two days for a complete welfare assessment of a dolphin pod including up to 10 individuals. Our protocol includes an extensive set of 31 indicators, and thus has some practical challenges.…”

A Ten-Stage Protocol for Assessing the Welfare of Individual Non-Captive Wild Animals: Free-Roaming Horses (Equus Ferus Caballus) as an Example

“…Methods for assessing welfare have been well developed for a range of captive animals [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], including for wild species [24][25][26][27][28]. Although a need to develop methodologies for assessing the welfare of free-roaming wildlife has been highlighted [1], to date, such assessments have been largely restricted to impacts of non-lethal or lethal control of unwanted species, such as rodents, possums, rabbits, kangaroos, camels, badgers, and horses [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47].…”

The Importance of Evidence, Animal-Based Measures, and the Rule of Law to Ensure Good Animal Welfare

“…For examwork on objective indicators for many other species ple, the government of an importing country cannot is in process. For example, a comprehensive frameissue an import permit for highly endangered spework for assessing the welfare of bottlenose dolphins cies until it is "satisfied that the proposed recipient and other marine mammal species holds great promof a living specimen is suitably equipped to house ise (Clegg et al, 2015). Validation of the 36 proposed and care for it" (Article III.3[b]).…”