WeBuzz by AnimalConcepts

“I realised this isn't new, this interconnection, this view of holistic understandings of who we are… back to indigenous cultures” - Sam Crowell This podcast utilises the audio from the webinar that took place on 30 April 2021 on the Planetary wellbeing platform by AnimalConcepts. Let us welcome Dr Sam M. Crowell Jr. He is a professor emeritus from California State University, San Bernardino. He founded the MA in Holistic and Integrative Education and is a founding member of the Network in Spirituality and Education. He serves as a faculty member of the Earth Charter Education Center for Sustainable Development and has been engaged in the Earth Charter movement for several years.Sam informs us how his beginnings with his doctorate in the social foundations of education, influenced his career as a teacher. He enthused about how teaching, allows for collaboration and further learning. Furthermore, he highlights how his indigenous heritage has given influenced his teaching style and sense of identity. They then discuss the influence of culture, both animal and human, and how understanding them could be used to encourage a peaceful future. “All my relations are our saving grace, it points to the truth that we are all connected. The most important word is ALL, not just those that behave like me, all, every person…” - Sam reading from Richard Wagamese's book Embers. The podcast concludes by explaining the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor. The eagle represents human technological advancements, the condor represents spirit. The prophecy states that every 500 years their prevalence switches, however, currently, both birds are flying. Read about Sam Crowell HERERead about the Visible and Non-Visible Nature of Collaboration in Education HEREFind out about the book; Embers by Richard Wagamese HEREFind out about Sam's Science and Spirituality course HERE

“Education can change minds, if you can change minds, you can change mindsets, you change the behaviours and change the collective, so it is crucial”. - Alicia This week's podcast utilises the audio from the webinar interview led by Alicia Jiménez which took place on the 29th of January 2021 from the AnimalConcepts platform. Let us welcome Alicia Jiménez, the Director of Programmes at the Earth Charter International Secretariat in Costa Rica. She has been working in the field of conservation and sustainable development since 1998. The conversation discusses why it is essential to work together to maintain nature. However, this would require a new mindset, through cultural transformation to expand our perception and rethink our values. Education is a key player in this and can influence change. The Earth Charter can be used as a guideline to produce lessons. The Earth Charter is a working document, containing sixteen principles within four pillars in sixty languages to promote a global impact by teaching a new way to relate to other living beings. “Across zoos and aquariums, not many people I have spoken to have heard about the Earth Charter. So it is wonderful that we converse together to spread the word, the message and the values”. – Sabrina Alicia, Irma and Sabrina then discuss the benefits of weaving stories into education especially in a zoo environment to create relatability and therefore teach people how valuable all life is. “The Earth Charter has a global effect, putting together how we should live on this planet”. - Irma Read about Alicia Jiménez HERERead the Earth Charter preamble HERE

This week's podcast utilises the audio from the webinar interview led by Irma Verhoeven which took place on the 31st of May 2021 from the AnimalConcepts platform. Let us welcome Tracey Starke, the founder of the environmental news website Ecolightenment, which brings together positive environmental news from mainstream media, as well as smaller NGOs to highlight the important work these groups are carrying out. The circular economy is a way of living in harmony with our ecological systems and restoring them. It is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. The conversation begins by discussing what a circular economy means to them and their industry. Circular economy is a method to live and restore the ecological systems by dealing with waste and keeping materials in use. From this, they examine methods in which to reduce waste within the animal industry, including the importance of stories in promoting change and the outcome of shifting minds. Read about Ecolightenment HERE

“Crises offer an invitation to do things differently. Embracing this opportunity clearly demands an overhaul of what is considered ‘leadership' in our society. We need to up our game! What we need are masterful warriors with a crystal clear vision and the ability to incite the necessary inspiration, creativity and faith that catalysis transformational change. We need wise leaders instead of smart managers.” - Rolf Winters Let us welcome Rolf Winters to WeBuzz. He is an explorer of life, a leadership coach, a public speaker, and Wise Leaders Ltd founder. Rolf starts by explaining how the meaning of success is fluid and changes every few years, as well as being subjective to the individual and what they had aimed to achieve. He explains how in his profession, he aims to promote the spirit of an individual and groups. Rolf shares with us about when he and his family lived with a clan of native Americans. They took themselves out of the Western system to live with nature and learn a new perspective of life. This five-year journey, which includes a year of global travelling, taught them to view everyone, no matter the age as equals, and all hold wisdom which we can learn from. Following this, Rolf produced the documentary DOWN to EARTH intending to spread the brilliance of the clan. In later years, he noted that the Earth Charter shares similar visions to the clan. Critically, Irma and Rolf highlight that being a leader is to serve your community and remain empathetic. He works with corporations around the world to promote change for the betterment of the Earth. Irma concludes by saying “The wiser we get, the more we realise how little we know”. Find out more about Wise Leaders Ltd. HERE Find out more about DOWN to EARTH HERE Find out more about the Wisdom-based Leadership master class HERE Become a member HERE

"It's important to emphasise that a key purpose of the Earth Charter is to expand and deepen a consciousness with regards to how we ought to relate not only with ourselves, and with others, but also how we ought to relate with the large living world." - Mirian Vilela Let us welcome Mirian Vilela who is the Executive Director of the Earth Charter International Secretariat and the Centre for Education for Sustainable Development at the University for Peace (UPEACE). Additionally, Mirian coordinates the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter. Mirian first introduces us to her upbringing in Brazil on her father's farm, and how this cultivated a connection to nature. Irma and Mirian then discuss what is the Earth Charter, how it was born from common human shared values and how the Earth Charter played a key role in Mirian's life, giving her a voice. They also share the importance of telling stories to promote system thinking to establish relationships with everyone including the Earth. “Our favourite story is the flight of the hummingbird, it's an inspiration to act on behalf of the world's limited and precious resources, this is very much in line with the vision of the Earth Charter” – Irma Verhoeven Mirian concludes by telling us a couple of stories, including one where a relationship formed with the Earth in that instant. Read about the Earth Charter HERE Become a member HERE

Grian A. Cutanda has a PhD in Social Education from the University of Granada (Spain) and a Degree in Psychology from the University of Valencia. He is an author of fiction and essay, with 16 books published, some of them translated into 12 languages, and a number of academic papers and chapters at the request of various universities. To highlight his international bestseller The Gardener, published in English by Thorsons (HarperCollins) in 1998. Social and environmental activist, Grian has been an organiser and coordinator in different fields within social movements such as the Indignados Movement in Spain, forerunner of the Occupy Movement in 2011; the People's Climate March in 2014 and the subsequent 2015 climate campaign in Edinburgh (Scotland); and Extinction Rebellion, as co-founder of XR Spain and regional liaison for Latin America in XR International. The impact of his environmental activism reached an international level with a documentary screened at the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival, The Earth Stories Collection, or How to End Modernism Once and for All (Cutanda, Kendall & Borecky, 2021) and when, in September 2021, he held a 33-day hunger strike as part of the Global Earth Fast campaign organised by Extinction Rebellion from the UK. This made him, along with Karen Killeen, the activist who held his hunger strike against climate change the longest in the world. Founder of the Avalon Project – Initiative for a Culture of Peace, Grian has been linked to the University of Granada as a researcher. His main research led to the creation of The Earth Stories Collection, a global bank of worldwide traditional stories capable to transmit an ecocentric and systemic worldview, illustrating the different principles and fragments of the Earth Charter. In this line, he is also working, with the partnership of the Earth Charter Secretariat at the United Nations' University for Peace and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, on spreading these stories through the creation of a global network of storytelling activists, Earth Story Tellers. Become a member HERE

Let's welcome Charlotte Corney, the former CEO of the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary in the Isle of Wight and the founder and trustee of the Wildheart Trust. Charlotte tells us of what it is like growing up in the Isle of Wight Zoo (now the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary), and how agreeing to hand-raise Zia the Tiger cub committed herself to work with animals. She explains the journey from a zoo to a sanctuary, yet emphasises that throughout the sanctuary's history, each animal's life has always mattered. “One thing, to this day, remains absolutely unshiftable, and that is that individual life matters to each and everyone of our animals, and never ever were our animals a commodity. The animal's life always comes first”. Each animal in their care acts as an ambassador animal to promote the conservation and protection of animals. Charlotte gives us an example of SERVIVAL, a campaign to ban the breeding of exotic felids, such as Servals, with domestic cats. These ambassador animals contribute a small part to the human experience at the sanctuary, which overall contributes to promoting a change in thinking through empowerment. “They come in, they learn a few facts that they may have been able to find out on Wikipedia, then they go home. It is not good enough now. We need people to go home now and do something different, think something differently. Make some difference. It is small steps” Charlotte concludes by telling us the story of her four hand-raised tiger cubs, and how she and the Isle of Wight said goodbye to her last surviving cub Aysha. Read about the Wildlife Trust HERE Listen to our podcast with Dr Jane Goodall HERE Become a member HERE

“Most people used to say, the Amazon is like the lung of the planet. I say it is like the heart. If you see the Amazon, you can see a heart and all the rivers are like veins. When you clog all these veins, the body is going to collapse. This is happening now." Let us welcome Dr Fernando Trujillo, a marine biologist who is the Scientific Director of Foundation Omacha, an NGO he established in 1993 to promote the conservation of river species and their ecosystems in South America. Fernando guides us through his studying history, achieving an MSc in Environmental Sciences (University of Greenwich) and a Doctorate in Zoology (University of Aberdeen) with the ambition of working with marine vertebrates. He was encouraged to work with dolphins in the Amazon. Although nervous, this place became his paradise so built his career around it. Fernando's PhD allowed him to research Amazon River Dolphin behaviour, and habitat use and develop a technique to count them. From here, he developed the South American River Dolphin Initiative. “Each tree is an ecosystem, 50 m high, there are hundreds, if not thousands of animals; ants, insects, spiders, frogs, mammals and reptiles. So every time you burn an area, you are killing millions of animals and plants." Fernando informs us about the importance of the Amazon to the world, and how damaging it will affect everyone. Fernando and Sabrina then discuss the development of Foundation Omacha and its impact. They then discuss the perception of the residents and indigenous people to conservation and how it changed over time. Throughout Fernando's career, connections are key in conservation. Connecting indigenous people to wildlife, and westernised people to indigenous to learn from each other and promote change to benefit everyone. “We need to learn, we need to move forward, we need to be committed to something. It's important. It's not a fight of a few people. It's a fight with everybody. We are all on this amazing blue planet that we all call Earth, and we need to do something” Read about Omacha HERERead about the Amazon River Dolphin HERERead about Fernando's Whitley award HERE and Fernando's work HERE Become a member HERE

“I think one of the things we should do, and that I am experiencing more and more, is that, in order to think differently we have to look to the past, to find out why we are thinking as we are thinking right now”. Let us welcome Jes Lynning Harfeld, an associate professor of applied ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy at Aalborg University, Denmark. Currently, his research focuses on the connections between animal welfare and ethics in the realm of human-animal interactions and the way that language interacts with thinking and character. It was not until Jes's PhD when he came across Peter Singer's Animal Liberation, did he develop an interest in the ethical dilemmas regarding animal welfare. As such, he focused his thesis on the ethical dilemmas of modern agriculture. Querying, what it means to have a find and the different approaches of ethics and how it relates to animals. “Animal welfare understandings as types of interpretations, reading their signals then jumping to conclusions." Jes and Sabrina then discuss the ethics and the varying interpretations of animal welfare, an intrinsically subjective phenomenon, across different audiences. Jes then, using a couple of his papers, explains the development of animal welfare sciences. “Making barriers between disciplines is one of the things that is not a good thing for animal welfare science, we have to break down disciplinary boundaries to do even better animal welfare science” Read about ‘What is animal happiness' HERERead about ‘Rights, solidarity, and the animal welfare state' HERERead about ‘Bearing Witness' by Class Kirchelle HERE Become a member HERE

“That is the real beauty, we often talk about global collaboration for animal welfare, or global collaboration for human wellbeing or for the greater community of life, or the planetary… What makes it so strong, is these different expertise, these different interests, these different talents, these different things that people bring… to effect change and the only way we can do that, is of course, is by doing it together.” - Sabrina Brando Hummingbird Stories AnimalConcepts Public Facebook Group Elephant Care & Wellbeing

“We have a mission to connect people with nature to inspire stewardship for nature through those connections!... An emotional connection with nature through spending time in nature is more important than environmental education for inculcating that sense of stewardship in children… an important part of conversation”. - Suzanne Gendron Let us welcome Suzanne Gendron, the Director of Sage Advice Consulting and the Former Executive Director of Zoological Operations and Conservation at Ocean Park Hong Kong. In this episode, Suzanne shares with us the importance of educational opportunities outside of school to promote stewardship through creating a connection to nature. Suzanne explains how Ocean Park aims to support Asian biodiversity and the strategies it has implemented to achieve this. She highlights crucially how conservation problems are not going to get better without cooperation. Suzanne then shares some of the educational activities Ocean Park employs to inspire others to take small actions to help conservation species. Suzanne then shares the work of Sage Advice Consulting, and how she utilises her 40 years to provide valuable insight to facilitate improved animal welfare, conservation and education, thus, positively impacting the conservation of animals. To conclude, Suzanne shares with us her love of scuba diving and her awe-inspiring dive with Whale Sharks further inspired her love of the sea. Read about WAZA's Social Change for Conservation Strategy HERE Read about Ocean Park's implemented conservation HERE Become a member HERE

"Everyone has 1 life. Me, you, and each animal in our care. Let's bring awareness to what seems so obvious, and embody I SEE YOU" - Sabrina Brando Join Sabrina Brando in thinking about the 1 life we all have. On how we can make a difference, through the methods and approaches we use, patience and loving-kindness. Sabrina discusses bringing attention to the effect of our language around other animals and nature, and how this can shape the ways we think and act. She shares some recent insights and experiences with animals and a valuable lesson from Metallica. Sabrina briefly discusses her perspectives around the 'I SEE YOU' concept she developed. Of bringing together our heart, mind, gut, and senses, and many other important aspects, and to stay connected 'seeing', in the broadest sense, for animals, peoples, and this beautiful planet we share. Access 24/7 across lifespan information and resources HERE Watch the EAZA webinar on Back-of-House with Sabrina Brando & Jon Coe HERE Become a member HERE

“Every single individual impacts the planet in some way, big or small everyday. Every individual has a role to play”. - Jane Goodall “If we find the right organisations to collaborate with… and to share values about the sanctity of life, whether it's animal-human, human-animal, we're all one! And yet, we're different, so we are responsible for the harm we are causing around the globe”. - Jane Goodall “Every species of animal and plant has a role to play. It was all connected. It's like a tapestry of beautiful colours, a living tapestry of life. As a species becomes locally extinct, it is like pulling a thread, from that tapestry, and enough threads are pulled, then that tapestry will hang in tatters, and that ecosystem will collapse, and we have to realise, we are apart of the natural world and not only that, we depend on it for everything”. - Jane Goodall Let us welcome Dr Jane Goodall DBE, who has worked for nearly 60 years protecting chimpanzees. Her work has led to conservation incorporating the needs of the local people as well as the environment. In this episode, Jane shares with us the importance of interconnection through finding common ground to improve the effectiveness of conservation strategies. Jane explains the role of the Jane Goodall Institute and its sanctuaries in helping both the chimps, the environment, and the locals and how it can be used to promote ecotourism. Jane then explains the importance of networking communities and connecting youth in order to promote positive change for animals and the environment through her programme ‘Roots & Shoots”. To conclude, Jane gives us reasons for hope and informs us of its importance within the world. She explains how hope is inspiring, and how it spreads easily sparking action. Sparking change. Learn more about the Jane Goodall Institute HERE Learn about the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance HERE Watch Wounda's release HERE Become a member HERE

In this episode, we connect with Irma Verhoeven who is a professional educator and a program and partnership development manager with Earth Charter International. Irma will share her insights and experiences on why education plays such an important role in human behaviour changes and empowerment. Irma shares her experiences of working with Indigenous Peoples, and how this has influenced her work as an educator, including learning from, through and with others. As a Programme & Partnership Development Manager with Earth Charter International, Irma shares how the Earth Charter can be useful for educational organisations as well as zoos and aquariums. In concluding the podcast Irma shares her work with World of Walas, as cofounder and education advisor, specifically focussing on educational efforts in relation to more participative and sustainable cities, and how education supports a more just, sustainable, peaceful, and ethical society. Become a member HERE

“Changes in how we react with animals… it's not all about food. The animals are going to get their food anyway, there is so much more to the relationship” - Sabrina 2022 “It's important that we're doing research to help animals that are in the wild. I believe a big reason that we have these animals is not for money or entertainment, but it's for education, conservation and research…” - William Winhall Today we welcome William (Bill) Winhall, the Manager/Principal Consultant at Marine Mammal Care Consulting LLC and who has a very long career in marine mammal care and welfare. Bill tells us that although he has always had an interest in nature, his first ambitions lay with becoming a professional baseball player. However, due to injuries, he decided to study for a degree in Biological Sciences (Marine). Bill then told us of his career ladder, starting as a Tour Boat Operator at Marine World/Africa USA. Bill then shares with us how marine mammal training has changed and the importance of collaboration in training with animals and colleagues. He also provided us with many examples, for example, Cocoa the Pilot Whale. Bill also explains the importance of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums inspecting and sharing the best practices to improve care. Bill also shares with us how understanding animals in captivity is critical in helping animals in the wild to conserve and restore habitats and species. Bill concludes by sharing stories about training a young dolphin and a young sea lion, explaining the importance of understanding the individual to alter training to fit their needs. Read about the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums HERE Read the Polar Bear Care Manual HERE Become a member HERE

“In this endless discussion [about animal experimentation] we completely forget that animals are used now and they need our attention now.” - Augusto Vitale & Sabrina Brando Dr Augusto Vitale joins us to share his experience in the study of non-human primate behaviour and welfare. Since 1991 Augusto has worked as a researcher at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome (Italy) dedicating his scientific activity to investigate behaviour, cognition and welfare of non-human primates, with a focus on common marmosets used in neuroscience and biomedical research. He guides us in discovering the work of ethologists and evolutionary biologists who contributed to unveiling key aspects of animal behaviour and cognitive skills. He passionately illustrates his research on cooperation and describes how studying common marmosets' behaviour can shed light on the evolution of altruism in humans. Augusto also shares with us his work in the EU Expert Working Group responsible for creating guidelines on the protection of animals used in scientific procedures. He discusses the use of animals in experimentation, providing meaningful insight into the current legislation and ethical debate. Augusto concludes by telling us about his strong bond with animals and highlighting the importance of positive human-animal interactions for enhancing captive animal well-being.

“It's really important to understand what our zoo visitors are seeing, feeling and understanding, because we want them to be a full partner in how we manage and take care of animals” – Jill Mellen "Our interpretations of what we may think of our own animals at home versus wild animals in our care... We have lots of similar problems... We could bring visitors along in learning to assess the wellbeing of animals and how this can be used with their own animals" - Sabrina Brando Jill Mellen joins us once again to discuss with Sabrina Brando how the public perceives the welfare of animals housed in a zoo. They explain how understanding this perception is important in the planning of management strategies. Jill shares with us how zookeepers are the critical mediator in making a positive experience, by taking the time to interact with visitors to divulge knowledge. They remind us how some domestic species share behaviours with many species in the zoo and reminding visitors of this can potentially improve the welfare of their pets. They discuss how media detachment can alter the narrative of work achieved in zoos, making zoos and aquariums appear that they are not doing right by the animals in their care. Jill and Sabrina conclude the podcast by offering several suggestions that could be implemented into zoos to increase positive public interactions. Listen to Jill and Sabrina's previous conversation HERE Become a member HERE

“Not everybody is convinced that a zoo can offer these conditions ... in most zoos, there is a great awareness that this is one of their biggest challenges - to give animals a natural environment in which to develop their natural behaviours" - Jan van Hooff Jan van Hooff joins us once again to share more stories about the chimpanzees, led by Mama, living at the Royal Burgers Zoo. He shares with us more tales of coalition behaviour in primates from his time with Mama and the Arnhem chimps, during a time when there was a great interest regarding the functions of aggression in the life of social animals. Jan explores the topic of how social groups are formed and maintained, and the importance of giving and taking in forming a community that benefits all members involved. He discusses how coalitions form, supported by the work of his PhD student Frans de Waal. Jan goes on to retell the development of relationships between the Arnhem Zoo chimpanzees, as observed by Frans, and how these observations went on to inform our current understanding of chimpanzee aggression, bonds and reconciliation. Jan shares fond memories of the chimpanzee matriarch Mama, and her role as a mediator between the males. He shares stories of the tolerance and caring displayed by Mama throughout her life, which he observed directly as he formed bonds with the chimpanzees. We conclude with a beautiful story of recognition and reunion between long-time friends. Check out Jan van Hooff's publications HERE Listen to the previous podcast from Jan HERE

“My focus was to study the social aspect of companion animals and how they change our social relationships with people.” – Lynette Hart Today we will hear Dr Lynette Hart as she delves into the world of Human-animal interactions, grief counselling and animal behaviour research, which she was happy to be a part of at a time when women with PhDs did not find suitors! As she tells how Leo Bustad pioneered in talking about the human-animal bond and vulnerable people, she asserts that ‘interaction' best describes the positive and negative aspects. She shares her part alongside others in popularising grief counselling for the loss of animals as a valid aspect of the human-animal bond. She tells how addressing grief is important for pet parents, veterinarians, animal laboratory workers and zookeepers. Listen as Lynette talks about a unique volunteer-based animal behaviour research on flehmen behaviour in ungulates, her work on elephant infrasound communication in collaboration with a geophysicist, collaborations with students to study elephant yawning, elephant-people interactions, elephant-caregiver bonds, effects of household noise on companion animals (inspired by her dog Ginny!). Excited and intoxicated by this science, Lynette feels the greatest resource of this field is the burning interest and energy that people have in it rather than monetary funds. Look out for some interesting publications coming our way from this amazing mind! To know more about Elephant-caregiver interaction click HERE To know more about grief counselling click HERE To know more about elephant infrasound communication click HERE Become a member HERE

“If [animals that had been treated poorly] were treated well, they can recover to a mood level just as well as animals that had been treated well all their lives” - Alan McElligott We welcome Dr Alan McElligott, Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at the City University of Hong Kong, to share the story of his career's journey - ranging from his childhood on his family's dairy farm to studying communication in kangaroos. Dr. Alan shares with us his rationale for studying zoology at University College Cork – a fascination with all animals, large and small. He had hoped to pursue a career in marine biology but found himself once again captivated by the ungulates he grew up with, eventually studying the behaviour of goats. Alan also shares his work on “Unsolvable Problem” with kangaroos, based on work with dogs. This study challenged the idea that “looking back” behaviour was rooted in domestication, as these animals which had never been domesticated actively glanced at human observers during the study when faced with the problem. We end with a discussion on working with goats at a rescue centre, and Dr. Alan's work which found that animals who had come from backgrounds where they were not able to feel safe, when treated well in new environments, were able to recover and attain mood levels comparable to animals which had been treated well all their lives. Take a look at Dr. Alan's research HERE Become a member HERE

"Curiosity is key. Ask questions and break them down into smaller components and apply it to a study to create a fundamental understanding... it helps us progress from what we know to more knowledge" - Samantha Ward Let's welcome Dr Samantha Ward, a senior lecturer in animal science at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) who also manages the undergraduate bachelor's degree in zoo animal biology. Furthermore, Sam works within the EAZA Records Working Group, a research advisor for Wild Welfare and is a welfare expert on the Zoo's Executive Committee as part of Defra. Sam shares with us how her love of animals came from her childhood through caring for her pets. She specifically reminisces of a goat named ‘Fudge' which she entered a local race, which got mentioned in the local paper. Through work experience, Sam discovered the veterinary career was not for her. This led her to complete a BSc in Applied Zoology, an MSc in Animal Behaviour and a PhD in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. During this period, Sam had a placement with Professor Vicky Melfi where she discovered her love of hoof stock when working with rhinos. Here she researched whether positive human-animal interactions result in positive behaviour and welfare. This soon progressed into her MSc thesis. Sam then explains the importance of developing a firm understanding of fundamentals before further research can be undertaken. She provided an example of understanding the basics of animal perceptions of humans to measure it. Sam clarifies her role as a Zoo Welfare Specialist in Defra. She is proud that her knowledge can help contribute to positive change to legislation. Consequently, improving the welfare of UK based zoos, by changing the minimal standards required to gain a zoo license. Next, Sam describes how her previous position as a conservation research manager gave her skills in record-keeping on Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), which was critical for her role within the EAZA Animal record working group. She helps train others to improve recordkeeping, critical to producing insights into health, welfare and conservation across all zoos. Sam then discusses the UK based charity; Wild Welfare which aims to improve the welfare of animals housed in zoos globally. This is accomplished through providing training. Sam then discusses ‘Zoo Animal Learning and Training', a book herself, Vicky Melfi and Nicole Dorey had released last year, containing chapters written by many people including Sabrina Brando. It is a book that aims to be both a textbook and provide tips for practical application. Sam concludes by telling us about how this past year she has moved to a smallholding farm. This enabled her to become self-sufficient and return to her roots of being surrounded by chickens. Learn about Sam's research HERE Learn about BIAZA's research HERE Learn about Wild Welfare HERE Find out about the UK Zoos Expert Committee HERE Learn about Sam's book HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

"The toughest part of animal training is that you find your own way, and not following rules. Because, following rules means there is no forward development" - Sven Wieskotten Let's welcome Sven Wieskotten for today's podcast. He is the founding director of Animal and Training. Sven first reminisces about his childhood bird and how far we have come in terms of animal husbandry. Then his first animal bond during his PhD with a Harbour seal named Henry. Sven noted his first career choice was being a pilot, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, he could not do this. So, he studied his second choice; biology, in 1997 at the Ruhr "University Bochum". During this, he met the founding director of the ‘Marine Science Center' in Rostock, who introduced the research his team do on Harbour seals to his class. This started his passion, Sven enquired whether he could join their team. After seven weeks of enquiry, the centre got new seals and invited Sven to join. Sven then describes the centre and its part in the research. He states how the public can view the current behavioural and sensory studies. Additionally, he describes how the public can participate in medical and husbandry training, which means animals will allow strangers to interact with them, promoting stress-free veterinary interactions. Sven introduces us to non-mammal training such as with octopi, penguins, and fish. Stating how training principles can be utilised cross-species. For example, the two-alternative force choice task, whereby the animal is given to targets and are taught to distinguish between the two by rewarding when the individual interacts with one target over the other. From here Sven describes his work on trial following, whereby he is working to distinguish the seals' hydrodynamic perception. This is to follow water disturbance trails using their whiskers alone, whilst blindfolded. He then describes the training process required to achieve this, addressing the hurdles of training being reduced motivation. Sven continues by discussing the importance of understanding both the animals and trainers' individual personalities in terms of the training strategy. Sven then talks about Akademie für Tiernaturheilkunde (ATN), a German online course provider which educates students internationally. Sven concludes by telling us the story of an orangutan he witnessed whilst in Borneo at a feeding platform. He was amazed at the animal's brute strength as he removed a tree seemingly in frustration as a female would not mate. Find out more about Animal and Training HERE Find out more about the Marine Science Center HERE Find out more water trailing HERE Find out more about Akademie für Tiernaturheilkunde HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

This podcast is dedicated to Dr Hal Markowitz (1934-2013) "Hal argued that an unnatural stimulus is better than a natural environment with no stimulation." - Autumn Sorrells Let's welcome Autumn Sorrell, the Animal Care Director at Elon Musk's neuro-tech company, Neuralink. She attributes her career to being heavily influenced by the Father of Environmental Enrichment, Dr Hal Markowitz, with whom Autumn worked for the last 10 years of his life. As such, this podcast is the celebration of his life. Autumn undertook an undergraduate agricultural animal science programme at the University of Missouri, Columbia and graduate work at Purdue University. She was granted a scholarship from the USDA to study livestock behaviour and learned to ask animals questions about their environment and preferences. During her undergrad, Autumn pursued various internships in different zoos, reading journals trying to learn more about the behavioural design of enclosures, including one by Hal. This paper inspired her to contact Hal to complete a PhD under his wing. Following communications, Autumn discovered Hal was no longer taking students due to an upcoming surgery removing his throat and tongue. Despite this, she still went to his university where she learnt about lab animal husbandry, becoming the husbandry, behaviour and enrichment manager. Autumn then retells Hal's story, starting with no parental guidance by 14 years of age. He got into an engineering college in Pennsylvania, becoming a full-time engineer in Dougal aircraft company. He noted one part was broken but was dismissed. Following the planes launch, people died, leaving Hal traumatised causing him to leave. He then pursued a PhD in psychology. Hal then became a student-teacher of experimental psychology at Oregon State, where he met his future Krista. Another student asked Hal to study seals at Washington Park Zoo. Whilst there, Hal recommended himself to be the Director of Education and Research. Eventually, Hal was fired due to his behavioural engineering being unnatural, so was pulled despite their popularity with the public. He argued that an unnatural stimulus is better than a natural environment with no stimulation. Autumn explained behavioural engineering which aims to return power to the animal by making its environment responsive. Although the term is influential, progress is slow. She referenced its initial popularity with Peter Singer's book ‘Animal Liberation' (1975). However, Hal believed little steps are good progress, just keep focusing on what you can do. Additionally, Hal encouraged making connections, as they are critical to the improvement of animal husbandry, making positive progress. Autumn then discusses Hal's latest book; Enriching Animal Lives, which explains how anyone in any animal sector can improve lives. Autumn then concludes by reminiscing about Hal's love for opera and symphony, and his love of word games such as scrabble. She also remembered his love of puns and his playful manners. Listen to Ep69 with Jill Mellen HERE Remembering Hal Markowitz HERE List of Hal Markowitz's books HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

Let's welcome Dr Brice Lefaux for today's podcast as he takes us around the world to meet with the most endangered species of primates on earth. It all started with Lily, the family dog. Growing up together, and learning to live with each other was probably the trigger to a life dedicated to animal welfare and conservation. One career option would be becoming a vet, although it wouldn't be a match to his determination to make a difference. Not realising at first how zoos could have an impact, Brice still decided to take a position as a Vet and Assistant manager at Bioparc de Doué la Fontaine. After a year, he experienced his first fieldwork in South America with Spider monkeys, a species of which he was studbook keeper back in Europe. There he realised that zoos were undeniable for the sustainability of field research and in-situ conservation actions. He felt a true connection to the wild and his long-standing passion for primates got even stronger. For 21 years now, he has been active in animal conservation and welfare. He now works in Mulhouse Zoo which he considered being not just a zoo but a Conservation centre. Today we can share his dedication to conservation, and more specifically primates' conservation through his recently published book Sauvons Les primates (“Let's save primates” in English). This book targets everyone interested in primates' conservation and highlights unknown species such as Roloway monkeys, gibbons or lemurs that face greater threats than the more notorious great apes. This particular issue is very important to Brice as he reminds us that there is significant bias on financial investment in conservation programs favouring great apes' protection. Moving on with talking about primates' conservation, he emphasises the fact that zoos have a major role to play in educating people. Without the zoos no one would be talking about these unknown species, except for scientists, so would have limited finance in their conservation programs to help save these species. And once again, he stresses that everything is connected: education, zoos, research, conservation, fundings etc. Brice continues with a warm acknowledgement of the artist that did all the drawings from his book. He feels true emotions through all illustrations and hopes people will feel it too. Brice finally concludes by indicating that his work is not only to advertise us on the threats to our biodiversity. He also offers solutions to conserve primate populations. He challenges us to review our way of living and our consumption habits. Changing is saving, and his book is a call for action. Find out more about Dr Brice Lefaux's book Sauvons les primates HERE To find out more about Lemurs' conservation HERE To find out more about West african primates conservation HERE To find out more about Gibbons' conservation HERE To find out more about Titi monkeys' conservation HERE Become a member HERE

Magnus Wahlberg started out as a physicist and mathematician, even though he was more interested in biology. The thought of experimenting with laboratory animals put him off, and he felt field biology may not be his cup of tea. Ironically, his voluntary work on marine animal sounds drowned him in fieldwork. He credits his mentors for their stimulating curiosity-driven approach. He had a long emotional journey of self-realisation that studying animals in captivity helps us know more about wild animals and vice versa. Listen as Magnus tells us about his interesting work on the bioacoustics of marine animals. With many exciting examples, he explains his focus on how animals hear. He explains how captive animals help us test techniques before running field testing on wild animals. “Would you rather be deaf or blind?” asks Magnus as he explains with relatable analogies. When vision underwater is limited, one has to rely on hearing. He shares how water is a good conductor of sound, making it great for marine mammals to communicate information. He then goes on to explain how despite marine mammals sharing our physiology, they have adapted to living underwater.Magnus explains that ‘sounds' can be defined as ‘noise' or ‘signal' depending on perspectives. The focal sound will be a ‘signal' and the sound interfering with this will be ‘noise'. It is difficult, he says, to measure whether a sound is agreeable to an animal or not, since “some sounds are loud but not regarded as noise as they are part of an animal's repertoire…” Discussing the effects of noise, Magnus explains that marine animals cope by either moving away or communicating louder (the Lombard effect). However, too much noise can in some cases result in injuries or even death. Singular effects can be ignored but cumulative effects can keep animals in constant stress causing greater harm. Magnus shares that the construction of wind turbines is noisier than their operation. This issue does cause conflicts between conservation biologists and climate change scientists. Personally, Magnus believes in the positive effect of wind farms which restrict fisheries, creating reserves where biodiversity flourishes. Magnus focuses on training teachers to inspire students to study natural sciences, believing in exciting individuals to be question-driven with an urge to answer these and solve problems creatively while knowing one's subject. Magnus's facility does 3-lane work, firstly, establishing basic knowledge, secondly, developing gadgets for study and lastly, education and outreach to inspire students and the general public.Magnus leaves us inspired, concluding with his personal experience with Loke- the great cormorant he tried to train but got trained himself by Loke instead! Learn more about wind turbine noise and marine animals HERE, effects offshore wind farm and marine wildlife HERE, Gentoo Penguin reaction to underwater sounds HERE, vessel noise and dolphins HERE, and inspirational teaching methods HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Let's welcome Dr. Kirstin Anderson Hansen for today's podcast as she takes us on an exciting life journey through her experiences in animal training and bioacoustics of marine animals. As a 13-year-old, Kirsten encountered her first surreal sighting of swimming killer whales whilst journeying on a bike on the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington State. This set the course as a marine biologist for this Colorado girl, starting from high school to post-doctorate. Kirstin shares how operant conditioning for communicating with animals is all about, “Teaching animals to be comfortable in the world that they live in!” She explains that training animals in co-operating for their own wellbeing is a priority. It helps showcase the animal's natural behaviours and individual personalities for public education, she believes. Although her MSc was related to bioacoustics of mimicry in beluga whales, her PhD involved training a great cormorant named Loke, taking part in an underwater behavioural hearing test to prove birds could hear underwater. The highlight was that against all popular beliefs at the time, Loke was trained with only positive reinforcement to voluntarily take part in the study. Kirstin made it a fun, interesting, challenging and motivating problem-solving task for him. Kirstin reveals more goodies about Loke and auditory brain responses of wild puffins in the form of brain waves. She stresses the importance of the collaboration between animal welfare scientists, researchers, and animal care personnel for prioritizing positive welfare of research animals. Kirstin shares more regarding training for husbandry to reduce stress by providing the animal with choice and control to stay in, or leave the task. She expresses that positive reinforcement training of stereotypic, inactive, or subdued animals in zoos, can increase their natural behaviours, behavioural diversity, enclosure use, and social activity. The cherry on the cake, she laughs, is that the guests will stay longer this way which means more funds for zoos. She divulges how this culminated into an animal training course for DAZA, and the challenges she faced in establishing the same for EAZA later on. The most important message that Kirstin brings is that in operant conditioning, as opposed to the common misconception, the operator is not the trainer but the animal. The animal chooses to act or not, while the trainer is responsible for the animal's comfort, understanding, and motivation to choose to do the task or tweak the environment if it chooses not to. To support her argument, Kirstin concludes with an eye-opening story, her experience with a grey seal she was training, that will leave you awestruck at this yet another multifaceted human-animal bond. Learn more about the behavioural hearing test in great cormorants HERE Learn more about auditory brain response research in wild puffins HERE Learn more about training animals for husbandry to reduce stress HERE Learn more about Dr Kirstin's work HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Hal Herzog is a professor of psychology at Western Carolina University, whose research entails the complex psychology of human-animal interactions for over three decades. These studies have been published in many journals, including Science, Animal Behavior and The American Psychologist to name a few. He also is the author of ‘Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat' and writes the blog Animals and Us on Psychology Today. Hal shares with us his love of animals from childhood, specifically reptiles. He quotes collecting reptiles during high school such as the boa constrictor, rat snakes, turtles etc. Hal then goes on to reference how his interest in human-animal interactions formed through his neighbours. They invited Hal to view a cockfighting match, which Hal initially refused. Eventually, Hal agreed due to his rising interest in how viewers perceive the roosters. This interest changed his PhD from snake personality differences to analysing the psychology of humans involved in cockfighting. Following the completion of his PhD, Hal flew to Vancouver, Canada to attend an international theology conference. Whilst at the airport Hal read ‘Animal Liberation' by Peter Singer. Hal describes initially dismissing Peter's perception of animal rights but continued to read due to Peter's arguments being good. Originally, Hal perceived that Peter did not incorporate psychology, believing that logical arguments would not affect humans' treatment of animals. Now, Hal admits the whole book was effective at pulling the heartstrings. Hal then discussed his initial PhD study, working at Gordon Burghardt's laboratory at the University of Tennessee. The aim was to develop a personality test for baby snakes. This test involved waving his hand in front of the snake to count how many times the snake struck within two minutes. The study demonstrated that siblings from the same litter behaved similarly, with recently fed snakes acting more aggressively as being fully limited their capacity to escape. Hal defines biological psychology as how biology and evolution impact human behaviour. Hal highlights this term brings about questions regarding what it means to be human. He then goes on to discuss the controversial topic of human attachment to their pets. On one side, biophilia, whereby humans have an innate trait to love all animals. Hal disagrees with this but instead believes animal attachment relates to cultural learning. He noted that the term pet is westernised, referencing a study by Peter Gray which examines 60 human cultures. This study concluded that only five cultures played with their pets. The other cultures used them for work. Hal then explained that in nature, pet-keeping is limited, referencing one occasion where a chimpanzee plays with a bush baby, usually resulting in killing it. Consequently, Hal describes pet-keeping as the thing that separates us from other species. Hal then discusses the impact of pets on human health. Historically, Erica Friedman in the 1980s concluded that pets increase their owner survival rate following a heart attack by four times more than those who do not own a pet. However, as Hal wrote his book, he discovered that there was an equal amount of papers stating that pets have a negative impact, no impact and a positive impact on the physical and mental health of their owners. This means no solid conclusion can be derived. In addition, Hal noted that research shows gender differences concerning human-animal interactions are limited. With the data he had, Hal developed an animal attitude scale. He highlighted on extreme ends in America, that females are more likely to be animal activists (people who alter their life to help animals e.g., diet, wardrobe etc.), whereas, males are more likely to be hunters. Hal then discusses the cultural impact of animal care, giving the veterinary profession as an example. Stating how 30 years ago, this career was considered a male role, with current roles now being 60% women. Hal then discusses behavioural alterations of animal activists in regards to animal care and their philosophical orientation. Hal then reviews how the animal welfare act is incorporated differently globally in terms of animal-based research. Hal considers history important, so shares with us the German Nazi parties progressive animal rights, restricting their use in research. On the other hand, the United States animal care and use committee covers all animals except rats, mice and birds. This means that the majority of animals used in research are not protected. Hal then elaborates on the animal popularity trends, giving dog breeds as an example. Utilising the 60 million dogs registered with the American Kennel Club from 1926, it was determined that cultural fashion trends greatly affects dog breed popularity as people unconsciously follow trends. Hal referenced the Dalmatians popularity boom following Disney's 101 Dalmations as an example. Hal progresses to discuss why some animals humans seem to care more about compared to others, referring frequently to a paper by Burghardt and Herzog Jr; Beyond Conspecifics: Is Brer Rabbit Our Brother? Here he observes how "cuteness" is a key factor in species with conservation programmes, although he noted this changes with cultural perceptions. For example, how the killer whale changed to an orca. Hal and Sabrina then discuss the recently published 2nd edition of his book; Some we love, some we hate, and some we eat. He wrote the book to be easily understood for the everyday person that aimed to get the public to question what they knew about animals. Hal was surprised by the book's popularity and incorporation into a lot of education courses. Hal concludes by sharing with us his free blog on Psychology Today that consists of over 150 blogs. Explore Hal Herzog's research gate HERE Listen to iBuzz podcast with Gordon Burghardt HERE Read the Beyond Conspecifics: Is Brer Rabbit Our Brother? paper HERE Read the Fashion vs. Function paper HERE Read the Animals and Us Psychology Today blogs HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

For today's podcast, we once again welcome back Professor Jan van Hooff to share more of his stories and knowledge surrounding his experiences working with the chimpanzees at Burgers Zoo. He explains how the large community of chimpanzees he came to work with was unheard of at the time. He draws on his experiences researching the chimpanzees housed in New Mexico by the United States Air Force to encourage and formulate a plan for keeping a colony of chimpanzees in captivity. He explains how, prior to the 1970s, chimpanzees in zoos were traditionally kept alone or in small groups in cages. Professor van Hooff retells stories of how the colony at Burgers Zoo came to be, and the trials and tribulations of introducing such a large group of chimpanzees to each other. This included the struggle of introducing three adult males to a group of twenty-three adult and adolescent females. He draws particular attention to the oldest female Mama, who Jan explains had adopted the role that would typically be assumed by adult males in chimpanzee colonies. Jan tells us of his first PhD student, Frans de Waal, and the extensive studies they did together on the Royal Burgers Zoo colony. He shares how they studied coalition behaviours in the chimpanzees and the work that went into Frans de Waal's book, “Chimpanzee Politics”. He explains how the study of coalition behaviour was very new at the time. He tells us of research that was conducted in crab-eating macaques on top of the work that was done with the Burgers Zoo chimpanzees, and how primate behaviour connects with human behaviour and politics in our day-to-day lives. We conclude with a story of chimpanzee rivalry and companionship. Jan tells us how two males worked together to succeed the alpha position, and how this behaviour was followed by Jan and Frans – forming the question, why did these two males join together to beat the dominant male? He tells us how the male who joined the coalition wasn't offered sufficient freedom by the original dominant male, and so he joined with the rival male to achieve more freedom for food and mating rights within the group. He tells us what this research in chimpanzees tells us about power and bargaining in humans and other primates. Check out Frans de Waal's book “Chimpanzee Politics” HERE If you would like to listen to the previous podcasts with Professor Jan van Hooff, click the following links: First podcast Second podcast Third podcast Learn more about Jan van Hooff HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Dr Jill Mellen worked as the Education and Science Director at Disney's Animal Kingdom and while now retired from this position, she is still very active in all kinds of projects! She has worked in the zoo and aquatic field for over three decades, with expertise in animal welfare. As such, in 2021, Jill received a lifetime achievement award for her work in animal welfare from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Jill shares with us that beyond having a dog, her family had no interest in animals. Instead, Jill was inspired by her neighbours Velma and Karen who owned a horse. She went on to university to study for a BSc in Biology then an MSc in Animal Behaviour. Whilst studying, she acquired a job at Miller Park Zoo, Bloomington, Illinois where she worked with children and farm animals. This sparked her passion for zoo-based careers. Progressing from there, after her MSc Jill was hired to participate in environmental engineering and to train and supervise undergraduates at Oregon Zoo. Jill then asked Sabrina how she gained her passion. Sabrina refers to her love of nature and bird watching, despite being allergic. She dropped out of school to work with aquatics and marine mammals. This stirred her love of learning more about animal behaviour. Both Jill and Sabrina discuss how this drive caused them to pursue a PhD. Jill then discussed working with Hal Markowitz at Oregon Zoo, and how he and the team did not realise how ground-breaking any of their work in environmental enrichment was. She summarised their work as behavioural encouragement through operant conditioning. Jill described one example with Baloo the Mandrill utilising a reaction time video game in which they compete with the public. When Baloo won, he would receive a feed reward. Jill and Sabrina then discussed the controversy of artificial versus natural enrichments. They then continue to discuss the variations of words concerning welfare which could result in miscommunication. So, Jill recommends before each discussion utilising a word, it should be defined in the discussion. This led Sabrina to talk about incorporating different perspectives of people from different industries to benefit the project. Jill also explains the origins and the effectiveness of SPIDER, a scientific framework used to implement and evaluate environmental enrichment. Jill concludes by emphasising the importance of choice and control in enclosure design, as we have placed them in an enclosure, we have removed a lot of choices. Therefore, it is up to us to provide some back based on their natural history. Learn about SPIDER HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

Having a background in marine mammal training, Tim Sullivan reflects on the impact his different mentors and the thorough coaching that he received has had on his career in caring for marine mammals. Tim reflects on his experience and discusses how the practice of animal training has changed over the years and whether it is logical to ask animals to carry out behaviours that do not come naturally to them. Tim is a co-founder of the Animal Behaviour Management Alliance and he explains how the organisation got started alongside the benefits it has for collaborative working when training animals. Tim also shares anecdotes on how he has found exposing animals to change early on can help build up their resilience and reduce stress when variations in their routine may be unavoidable. Having a lot of experience in animal training, Tim shares the value of being proactive in animal behaviour management to avoid problematic behaviours, such as stereotypies, from occurring. Become a member of PAWS now HERE

This podcast is dedicated to Else Poulsen (1955 to 2016) “Bears just do things for Bear reasons” Jay Pratte is the Director of Animal Care, Conservation and Education at the Utica Zoo in the state of New York, USA. Jay shares with us how his interest in animal behaviour initiated in Waterton Park whilst on a high school camping trip. While exploring the environment, Jay walked upon a doe. He approached her slowly with grass, observing her body language and adjusting himself to reduce the chance of her running. Although his father found it confusing, Jay thought this way of behaving was normal and thus carried it with him with his training. Jays' family expected him to be a lawyer due to his high grades. Consequently, he studied environmental law at Alberta University. He explained that by chance a friend told him about big cats which were housed outside the city in a roadside zoo, whereby Jay proceeded to volunteer there, shortly followed by employment. During his employment, he further observed that human behaviours cause animals to adjust their behaviours accordingly. As such, Jay changed his studies to behavioural psychology and zoology. From this Jay trained animals for the film industry, then moved to Dallas Zoo working in the ExxonMobil Tiger habitat managing their training programmes. What Jay learnt here, he transferred to his job working with Giant Pandas at Zoo Atlanta, China. Jay talks about his current effort in shutting down facilities with poor animal welfare alongside groups such as USDA, PETA and HSUS. This starts with a request to change but frequently ends with litigation. Jay references a couple of facilities in which he helped shut down including Wildlife in Need after observations of bear cub abuse. Jay explained how he entered the zoo world. He described how initially he thought being a vet was the only option. However, following a shadow day at a vet whilst in high school, he determined experiencing the emotional pain of euthanising animals was not a viable career choice for him. Yet, volunteering at the roadside zoo enlightened him on other possibilities. Jay highlights this as a career choice of passion, with not much money. He recommends volunteering to discover if certain careers are for you. Jay explains his role at Utica Zoo makes him feel valued and make an impact in the lives of both humans and animals by taking the zoo to the next step. Additionally, he appreciates the zoo's position within the local community and how valued it is, in return, Jay helped the local community through many activities including helping students. Jay then described how he and Else Polsen met at Zoo Atlantica, however, when he moved on, they lost contact. A few years later Else reached out, asking for Jay to do a training session at her conference. During which, they discussed an idea, developing a non-profit group to protect bears and improve their welfare- this is the birth of the Bear Care Group. Jay remembers Else, describing her as a mentor, good friend and crucial member of the team. He depicted her as a force to be reckoned with. Else was known to help anyway, no matter what their background or situation is, if they wanted to help the bears, she was there. It was this that taught Jay to be open in his work to promote positive change. Jay and Sabrina then discuss the importance of a complementary team, which each bring their skillset and perspectives to reduce confirmation bias and promote change. He described learning so much from her, however, their time was cut short when Else got cancer and passed away. Jay continues to run the Bear Care Group in the way Else would. Jay highlighted how people can support the group, whether it's a donation, interacting with the social media page or attending a talk. If you want to help bears, any input is critical. Jay concludes by quoting “Oh, you made contact!” a line spoken by Jamie Lee Curtis in a movie called Fierce Creatures. Jay says that line makes him think of connection, it is this connection that keeps his passion going. Jay then reminisces about a training session he did at Romania Zoo, whereby he trained a previously untrained Brown bear he nicknamed “Borscht”. Jay said that the fact that Borscht came out of hiding, taught to target, open his mouth on command and stand up fully, all within half an hour, thus demonstrating the power of positive reinforcement. Learn about the Bear Care Group HERE Learn more about you could support the Bear Care Group HERE Find out more about Jay Pratte HERE Learn more about Else Poulsen HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

Erna Walraven covers the progression of her career in the animal care sector, from caring for stray dogs to successfully becoming former Senior Curator at Taronga Zoo for twenty years. She strives to encourage members of the public and animal care professionals to be active for animals, the planet and the greater good. As curator, Erna realised her region was lacking animal welfare positions. She created a position for Taronga Zoo which encompassed training the zoo's staff about what the term ‘animal welfare' actually means. This enables staff to create goals in what standards they want to achieve and how success can be measured. Part of this includes allowing animals to have negative experiences or “safe negatives”, whilst ensuring their welfare is not compromised, to give them a life that is as close to what the animal would experience in the wild, such as being outdoors in bad weather. This is so that the animals can make the decisions in their own care as they would outside of captivity. It is important to enrich these innate behaviours so that future generations of animals know how to be independent from humans when they have been released into a sustainable habitat. In this podcast, Erna provides tips on how she landed her first job in a zoo and explains the inspiration behind her contributions to animal welfare. Her books ‘Wild Leadership', ‘Wild Fathers' and ‘Care of Australian Wildlife: For Gardeners, Landholders and Wildlife Carers' are just some examples of how Erna empowers members of the public to save animals in crises. She explains the importance of communication that leaders have with their employees and how this affects successful working relationships. Erna also discusses her exciting upcoming book which focuses on the power that female animals have in their social groups. Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Tune in for this Saturday's podcast to learn more about animal ethics, philosophy, our relationship to other animals, and empathetic engagement with the more than human world. Lori Gruen is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Science in Society at Wesleyan University where she also coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies. Her work lies at the intersection of ethical and political theory and practice, with a particular focus on issues that impact those often overlooked in traditional ethical investigations, e.g. women, people of color, incarcerated people, non-human animals. She is currently working to unpack carceral logics by thinking through a complex set of issues like dignity, self-respect, empathy, disposability, and hope and hopelessness. Learn more about Lori Gruen HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

David Neale has been the Director of Animals Asia Foundation since 2002. David shares with us how when he was 14, he saw chimpanzees used as photo props whilst in Majorca, Spain, and how it ignited his passion for animal welfare. Sabrina shares similar memories of seeing Africa Greys, snakes, and a Tiger. She also mentions apps where the public can record these animals to influence change. David says his study choices were limited, so studied Environmental Science and then a postgraduate in Conservation Biology. After graduating, David worked as an ecologist for a river restoration charity in England, which aimed to restore lost habitats. When David surveyed for European water voles (a species that declined due to pollution, habitat loss and the release of mink), he determined the mink would need to be culled. This introduces an animal welfare element. David did not want to contribute to this, so embarked on a trip to Asia and South America to determine an alternative career. Whilst travelling, he visited zoos and sanctuaries, reporting his observations to the Born Free Foundation. David shared with us a key moment in Vietnam, where he observed two caged bears, one of which was a cub. He learnt they were destined to be milked for bile at a bear farm. Horrified, he reported this to Born Free who referred him to the recently established Animals Asia Foundation by Jill Robinson. Through communications with Jill, David helped establish Animals Asia in the UK, spending approximately eight years giving talks to all manners of people. Concurrently, David wanted to contribute to the welfare of farmed animals beyond being a vegan, so he volunteered as a Political Coordinator for the British Hen Welfare Trust. This trust rehomes laying hens after they have stopped being economically viable. From here David, attended Asia for Animals, a conference of all organisations which occurs every two years to discuss relevant issues and increase collaborations, although this was rare between conferences. David wanted a more long-term collaboration between organisations so established Asia for Animals Coalition. It aims to allow the sharing of information to improve animal welfare. Within the coalition are species-specific working groups. David introduces us to his blogs on preventing future pandemics through altering the way livestock animals are managed and the consumption of animals both domestic and exotic to be more sustainable. He shares how the covid pandemic has highlighted this to the public. David continues by sharing his career progression through Animals Asia, by being more hands-on in China. Here he worked with the China Zoo Association to remove circuses within their businesses to improve animal welfare. This change occurred in 2011. Animals Asia then progressed to provide advice and knowledge to further improve welfare in Chinese zoos through workshops. David shares with us the education programme to instruct the public on the wild behaviour and needs of species and why scenarios such as bear farms are bad for the species. He then mentions their work with the Chinese veterinary medical association, educating their students on how their care can impact their welfare. Animals Asia invested in outside veterinary experts to teach in universities which have resulted in overall improvements. David then discusses the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam and working with the Government to set up a sanctuary in Tam Dao National Park for formally farmed bears, and capacity building across centres to improve welfare and knowledge. David then talks about replacing elephant riding with ethical elephant tourism in Vietnam. This entails guided tours that follow the elephants within their habitat, this benefits all stakeholders including the elephants and creates more income. David concludes by telling us the story of a 60-year-old elephant, who was rescued by the team from her life of being used for rides. She lived four years within the reserve where she interacted with a wild male elephant and ventured outside the reserve. Listen to our podcast with Jill Robinson HERE Read the "eating animals at the zoo" paper HERE Read about the Asia for Animals Coalition HERE Read about the Animals Asia HERE

Content warning: This podcast includes descriptive content related to laboratory animals which some listeners may find distressing. Sally Thompson-Iritani is the Asst. Vice Provost, Animal Care, Outreach & 3Rs and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington. Additionally, she is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and a Human-Animal Bond Practitioner. Sally shares with us how her love of animals developed from her love of cats. Despite not being allowed one as a child due to living in a small apartment, she found interacting with them comforting. Through this, Sally's mum nurtured her understanding of ensuring an animal is provided with all their needs. Sally developed an interest in the care provided to research animals due to her childhood friend's father completing research on mice at a university. This was further developed when she read an article on a neuroscience study that used non-human primates, whereby Sally questioned herself on the methods used to care for these primates. Her mum suggested it could be a possible career choice for Sally. Sally studied a PhD focusing on how the environment can affect foetal development, primarily concentrating on the effects of methylmercury. She conducted this study using the mouse, as foetal development can only be studied in situ. When Sally finished her studies, she worked in a biotechnology company on therapeutics to develop medications and therapies. Sally informs us that many measures put in place to protect animals in research are globally universal. This not only ensures the animals are well cared for, but the study outcomes are reliably repeatable. This is regulated and updated through organisations such as ALAC International. Sabrina and Sally discuss the importance of laboratory animals in developing treatments, and how the resulting outcomes have saved lives. They agree how they are both grateful so aim to improve the welfare of these animals. Sally expands that without laboratory animals, many animals such as those in zoos and in agriculture have received better care due to the development of surgeries, medicines and vaccines. Sally informs us how animal care during the covid pandemic has been tough for everyone. She quotes the most difficult bit being the lack of social interaction between caregivers during the workday, which was counteracted by using Zoom during lunchtimes. Sally explains about her work at the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research, and how the organisation is committed to support the biomedical community and inform others of its importance. Sally talks about human wellbeing and her work as a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional. She explains how compassion fatigue originated in nursing and spread out across all caring roles including laboratory animal caregivers. She describes how the role is mentally and emotionally difficult as carers forge bonds with animals that can be euthanized during a study. Her role involves guiding people through these emotions, providing them coping mechanism tools. Sally then introduces us to research she collaborated with Teresa Schlanser and Peter Rabinowitz on compassion fatigue in satisfaction in US army laboratory animal medicine personnel. It showed the importance of a good support network for improved resilience. Sally concludes by explaining the benefits of positive reinforcement training across all animal disciplines. She references how it has been used to train non-human primates within neuroscience to move from their enclosure to the study area. She also mentioned recent work to 'litter train' dairy cattle to excrete in one area to improve waste management. Learn more about Sally Thompson-Iritani HERE Link the collaborative research HERE Watch how non-human primates have been trained HERE Watch how dairy cattle have been trained HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Elisabetta Palagi is an Associate Professor at the University of Pisa, whose research focuses on social and sexual behaviour, and mechanisms underlining empathy such as rapid facial mimicry and emotional contagion. Elisabetta shares a short story of growing up on a farm, of chickens and other animals, her early interest in animal behaviour, and a wise lesson by her grandmother. She shares her start in academia, being a student at the University of Pisa, and completing her PhD in evolutionary biology. After her studies she continued at the University of Pisa, in the role of mammal curator at the museum of natural history, expanding her views on animal behaviour through zoology. She shares her collaboration with the Pistoia Zoo where she studied lemurs. After great apes, wolves, hyenas, sea lions, and others, both in the wild and under human care. Elisabetta discusses aspects of her and collaborative research on animal friendships, focusing on individuals, agonistic support, relationship quality, body contact, and cohesiveness. Elisabetta discusses the importance of comparative research, considering different approaches focussing on social similarities and phylogeny, homologous traits, or evolutionary convergence. She discusses peace and reconciliation in different species, with specific examples on consolation, concern, comforting each other, egoism, and altruism, in different species.Elisabetta also shares a great story on breaking the ice and grooming, using a very Italian custom of ‘aperitivo'. Social play, explanations of immediate and delayed play, rough and tumble play, social tolerance, and adult play, as well as managing xenophobia by playing, and when play is a family business: adult play, hierarchy, and possible stress reduction in common marmosets are covered. …to celebrate the arrival of food, about 20 minutes before food arrival, chimpanzees increase their grooming behaviour, and in bonobos we found a peak in play behaviour…leaving the animals more relaxed before the food arrives, reducing levels of aggression and solving levels of distrust.” Elisabetta discusses her collaborative book “The Missing Lemur Link: an Ancestral Step in Human Evolution” and concludes the podcast with a story of her travel to Madagascar and hearing the singing of an Indri and the deep experience of being in this marvellous environment. University of Pisa Google Scholar PLAY AND THE EVOLUTION OF CREATIVE SOCIETIES Song of the Indri lemur

Becca Hanson is a Founding Principal of Studio Hanson | Roberts. She is a landscape architect with over 44 years of experience. Becca shares with us how her love of nature started in Cincinnati, Ohio, during her childhood in the woodland behind her home. Here she could interact with nature first-hand by climbing trees, handling animals etc. Becca started her university career intending to be an architect. However, she realised it was not for her, so took a nine-year sabbatical where she had a child and lived in Europe. During a trip to the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens in Wisley in the UK, she saw the rockery. This inspired Becca to finish her degree to construct similar works. Becca then enrolled in the University of Washington to get a BLA in Landscape Architecture and a minor in plant community ecology. From here Becca got a job with Jones & Jones, who were working to design landscapes for the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle. The more she worked with zoos, the more she fell in love with the zoo environment and the people within them as they all want to make the world a better place. She also discovered how she loved designing with the web of life in mind; incorporating both the needs of animals, plants and people to ensure everyone's lives are rich and fulfilling. Becca and Sabrina then discuss how the 24/7 approach is critical in enclosure design as animals could inhabit it for the rest of their lives. Becca then highlights how much expertise is required to ensure everybody's needs are met within the environment as well as reverberate the message of conservation to leave an impact on visitors. Becca explains how she and her husband David Roberts set up SH | R in 2003, to devote their professional lives to zoos and aquariums. She explained how SH | R gained traction quickly, becoming international. Becca shared her adoration of learning from different people during her travels, which could be utilised in future designs. Becca goes on to explain the impact of COVID-19 on the studios, and how all projects had to continue online using services such as Zoom. Becca then provides examples of ‘conservation by design'. She references how Houston Zoo aims to convert basic enclosures to ones focused on welfare and demonstrates the conservation themes of the zoo. Becca mentions the under-construction Galapagos exhibit which aims to highlight to visitors the Galapagos landscapes and unique animals and what can be done to conserve them. Becca further highlights that sustainability is key in conservation by design, by which resources and techniques utilised must reduce the overall footprint. She references as an example, the water in the Hippopotamus exhibit at Werribee Open Range Zoo, Melbourne. Incorporated within the enclosure is one hectare of wetlands which acts as a biofilter. Cleaning the water. Simultaneously, increasing biodiversity through attracting birds, insects, crustaceans etc. She also references how enclosures must be designed to last. “Designing an enclosure for the flexibility to be able to change things, about keeping staff involved in the lives of animals, and making it a rich and fulfilling life for everyone. So that everybody looks forward to a new day dawning." Becca then explains her passions lie in how children engage with the zoo environment, with the aim to induce empathy with them and their families as well as encouraging natural play. She states the zoo is more likely to make an impact if they can physically interact rather than just observe. She mentions her love of the Science North, Northern Ontario, Nature Exchange, whereby children exchange items from nature along with knowledge for other natural items. Becca and Sabrina then discuss the importance of team diversity and budgeting when it comes to landscape design to ensure all plans come to fruition. Becca then explains the criteria needed to become a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Becca concludes by telling us how a Javan Rice Finch named Fred, who once lived in a cage in a children's museum, became a big part of office life. Learn more about the Studio Hanson | Roberts HERE Learn more about Becca Hanon HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

Today on iBuzz we welcome Dr Gordon Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at New College of Florida. Gordon has investigated animal senses, cognition and behaviour in a wide variety of species such as manatees, bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales and sea turtles. Gordon opens with one of his first interactions with humpback whales and explains how he became interested in studying animals at a young age with frequent trips to his local zoo. He reflects on how he explored a number of possible career paths before returning to work with animals at the age of 30, a decade after graduating from his B.A. in Psychology. He describes his work at the University of Hawaii, working in dolphin communication and cognition. He talks about how collaboration with researchers from other fields allowed him to pursue biomagnetism in species including bottlenose dolphins, porpoises and humpback whales. This culminated in his first published article, kickstarting his ongoing and influential career in cetacean research. Dr Bauer goes on to share his experiences working in the field of conservation with free-living manatees. He explains how it began as a project with one of his students, which aimed to discover whether manatees could be trained to comply with husbandry procedures. What began as a student project eventually grew into a larger initiative, including research into manatees that are struck by boats and how they use their senses to understand their surroundings. It is highlighted that by understanding how manatees experience their world, it will be possible to understand how better to care for and protect these animals in our care and in the wild. Gordon shares his experiences with training animals, and how training does not always go to plan. He describes an experience of training manatees to open an eye on signal, and hold it open for a veterinary ophthalmologist to examine; he recalls how, after several months of training, it had turned out that the manatees had instead learned to close their eyes and keep them closed. He highlights the importance of understanding how animals behave in creating effective training results; for example, if he had understood that manatees close their eyes when eating, he might have adjusted the reward protocol. Following on from discussing his own research career, he goes on to reflect on the research work carried out by his own students. This included work on lateralisation in marine mammals, indicating that different individual manatees would have different flipper preferences much like how humans will have a preference for a left or right dominant hand. Gordon stresses the importance of communicating the findings of research to a variety of audiences to ensure science can be put into practice. Gordon continues with a discussion on animal cognition and acknowledging the learning principles and complex processes that animals display during research. He cites the importance of understanding how the marine environment shapes cognition in marine mammals as we move forward in investigating specific questions for specific species.We finish with a story about care, and of people engaging with species that are not typically seen as playful - such as sea turtles - and watching animals having fun. “We had this naive trainer, who had made this major breakthrough with the manatee … the discovery that auditory stimulation kept them relaxed and on their backs.” Become a member of PAWS now HERE

On today's podcast, we welcome Terry Maple onto iBuzz to talk to us about his new book, The Life of Willie B., and his impressive lifelong career as a behavioural researcher, wildlife conservationist, professor, author, and zoo director. Terry tells us of the inspirations behind his latest book, citing the positive changes for animals - particularly great apes - that have occurred in the zoo industry during his career. He talks about his life's journey to Zoo Atlanta, starting out as an animal social psychologist, and his interest in what made a zoo great. Inspired by his local zoo growing up, San Diego Zoo, he began a 30-year career revitalising and reforming the then-discredited Zoo Atlanta. Through his management, he - alongside a team of “reformers” - was a key driver in turning Zoo Atlanta into the respected facility it is today. Terry talks about how gorilla management has changed since he started his work with the apes. He explains how, as research into great ape behaviour in the field developed, he set out to utilise this knowledge to reform the management of gorillas under human care. In particular, he celebrates the shift from housing single gorillas by themselves to keeping species-appropriate groups which mimic the family dynamics of groups living in the wild. Willie B. is remembered by Terry as a remarkable animal, and a demonstration of the importance of providing an environment that replicates the experience they would have in the wild - one that is mentally challenging, but peaceful, with the ability to socialise with their own kind. He tells us of the positive changes he saw in Willie B. after the gorilla, who had lived in a concrete enclosure for two decades, moved to a naturalistic African rainforest inspired exhibit. He celebrates all of the people in the community who came together to stand behind him as he, new to working as a zoo director at the time, spearheaded the construction of what was then considered revolutionary. Terry also tells us about his involvement with Ivan, a gorilla which was taken from the wild at a young age and kept as a household pet for the first years of his life. Terry explains how disturbing this critical period of Ivan's social life went on to impact him when he eventually came to live at Zoo Atlanta. Terry explains how the 27 years Ivan spent in isolation, living in a department store in Georgia, led to him struggling to adjust to the company of other gorillas. Terry concludes the podcast with a reflection on how Willie B. impacted the lives of everyone who met him. Sabrina reads one of the testimonials on the podcast, sharing just one of the many tributes found in the book. Terry shares his personal reflections on his experiences with Willie B., reflecting on how happy he was to be part of something important and helping to change the world for gorillas living in human care. Terry Maple's latest book, Atlanta's Iconic Ape, is available on Amazon HERE Take a look at the other books authored by Terry Maple HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Samantha Chiew on understanding the effects of animal-visitor interactions, learning from little penguins, and animal welfare policy Samantha Chiew starts by sharing some of her first memories of connecting with animals at a children's farm. With so many other ways to study and work with animals abound, Samantha reflects on different pathways and how she obtained an MSc and joined, like Sabrina, the CAWSEL course in Cambridge. Samantha shares about her work at the Healesville Sanctuary as a customer service representative, learning about why zoos are so important. Looking at both animal welfare and the visitor experience. She then pursued a PhD in zoo animal welfare studying penguins and human and visitor interactions. Samantha shares research findings and how outcomes were used to modify environments and regulate the visitor animal interaction. "Findings have increased our understanding of the multifaceted nature of visitor attitudes and have identified some influencing factors on attitudes that can be used to inform the way zoos manage visitor-penguin interactions." Currently, Samanta is working for the Australian Federal (Commonwealth) Government as a Policy Officer in the Animal Welfare team within the Agricultural Policy Division, with a focus on the field of farm animal welfare. Her work revolves around ensuring that the recommended changes in policy are supported and backed by science. Samantha concludes the podcast with a story about penguin poo and what she learned from Bandit, a little penguin at Wellington Zoo. Learn more about Healesville Sanctuary and Zoos Victoria HERE Visit Dr Chiew's ResearchGate HERE Learn more about CAWSEL HERE View the special issue HERE Become a PAWS member HERE

This is the 3rd episode with Jan van Hooff in which we continue to follow his stories from England to the Netherlands, back to Burgers' Zoo and the monthly TV program on AVRO TV, called "ZooZoo" from 1964 till 1967 which Jan presented with his brother Antoon. Jan continued on his PhD with the late Professor Dijkgraaf. Jan shares his involvement in research concerning the socialization of a large group of chimpanzees held at the United States Air Force in 1966. Focusing on not only the physicalbut also psychological wellbeing in a group living environment. He continues with stories of the chimpanzees at Burgers' Zoo and his work with Frans de Waal who was his PhD student. Jan shares historical perspectives on raising chimpanzee babies, the socialisation of the group and stresses that chimpanzees should never be pets! Hear about chimpanzees on the loose, building boats and ladders and going to the self-service, and a somewhat surprising ending. Jan discusses natural versus unnatural. "Not natural does not necessarily unnatural." Listen to the 2nd episode with Jan van Hooff HERE Learn more about Jan van Hooff HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

The global zoo community has made great efforts and progresses to understanding, promoting, and engaging in the animal welfare and conservation domain. However, there are, among others, various legal, educational, strategical, and operational aspects which affect animal welfare, and which warrant critical analysis, discussions, mitigation, and resolution. This podcast will not only highlight some of the ‘System failures' as Sabrina Brando has started to call them, root problems that cause some or many symptoms but will also be a call to action. Too often we still deal with symptoms instead of going to the root of the problem, many of which can only be solved by local and a global approach, and multi-disciplinary collaboration. Working with zoos and aquariums and promoting optimal wellbeing for the many animals in our care, what does such a relationship look like, what are the different distant and proximate aspects related to animal wellbeing are important for us to review and address? What can we do, or do have to start doing to continue making a difference for animals? This podcast is part of a series of podcasts to be released and is related to a paper with the same tentative title, Reboot: System failures in the zoo and aquarium related domains, that she is currently writing. It is based on her own experiences and observations of working in the animal care and welfare field in zoos and aquariums, and the countless interactions, discussions, and valuable reflections with friends and colleagues for which she is very grateful. So many people have enriched her life and so many animals shared their needs, preferences and stories. Other animals have been and are her teachers too. The overview in this podcast covers animal welfare in general, care and management specifically, laws, design and architecture and regulated professions. Sabrina highlights the importance of an auto critical approach and reviewing internal and external obstacles and challenges with a focus on opportunities. The topics discussed within also apply to other fields such as sanctuaries, shelters, companion animals, among others. While there are differences between countries and regions, what is interesting is also the universality of many of the obstacles and challenges. While there are differences there are many more similarities and while working locally is key, there is a need and opportunity to find support and strength through global collaboration. Sabrina thanks all you out there for caring for animals, doing research, working in the protection of animals and more. The animals need all of us, and we need all of us to continue to make a difference! Watch the webinar Confronting back of house traditions: Primates as a case study HERE Become a PAWS member HERE

Jan van Hooff briefly recapped what was previously discussed in episode 44 of iBuzz, saying how he grew up in Burger's Zoo and studied biology at the University of Biology. Jan discusses how he initially got his biology kick from working in the institute of Sven Dijkgraaf, who is famous for his input towards the discovery of echolocation in bats during World War II. Jan states that Dijkgraaf himself was inspired by Lazzaro Spallanzani. He observed that bats could still navigate when blinded, but not when their ears are plugged. Building on this Dijkgraaf noted that bats could distinguish different shapes using different calls. Jan also noted that Donald Griffin simultaneously discovered echolocation in bats and dolphins. His work triggered an interest from the Navy, which allowed the development of sonar in submarines. Jan noted that Dijkgraaf and his team also discovered the use of electroreception in sharks, enabling them to find prey in the sand. This work triggered many physiological discussions, namely the distinction between mind and matter and the dualism between mind and body. Jan stated this debate fascinated him, saying “this work on the sensory mechanism of animals of which we have come from a subjective picture, fascinates me really. This piqued my interest in animal behaviour”. Jan then went on to say that the writings of Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen (the fathers of Ethology; the study of animal behaviour) further inspired him to study animal behaviour. Especially the concept that behaviour is a function of the brain and is, therefore, a measurable concept. Further reading on Charles Darwin book ‘The expression of the emotions in man' where Darwin wrote about primate expressions, which can be used to inform others of their intentions and feelings. Jan wanted to know more, so approached Niko Tinbergen in the 1960s, who referred him to Desmond Morris, the curator of mammals at London Zoo. Jan explained that London Zoo was ideal due to the primates being housed in easily viewable cages. This allowed the observations of species-specific expressions. He further noted play behaviours which the primates seemingly enjoyed. In that respect, Jan admits he was different from the objective behaviourists of the time. Jan study progressed from the observation of primates' expression, by comparing it to that of humans. He had a specific interest in human laughter, a behaviour specific to humans despite the cultural variations. Jan wraps it up by talking about work at London Zoo, stating that primate behaviours can be treated as taxonomic characteristics which reflects a psychological process. Jan goes on to say that next time he will discuss his return to Burger's Zoo to work with his brother to update the no longer acceptable animal enclosures. Listen to the last episode with Jan van Hooff HERE Learn more about Jan van Hooff HERE Read about the history of echolocation HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

Gregg Tully is the Executive Director of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), the largest association of wildlife centres in Africa, with the aim of securing a future for the African primates and their habitats. Gregg shares with us how he has always had a passion for nature and animals, he just did not know how to obtain a career in that field. Consequently, he went to university to study biology with a major in environmental studies. Soon he identified that he loved teaching older people and believed this way he could share his passion for animals. Gregg understood that this required a PhD, so he earned one in Evolutionary Biology from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2006. Gregg, alongside his studies, volunteered at the Nepal Youth Foundation. Here, he developed his passion for working for non-profit organisations. Following his PhD, he became the Development Director of the Nepal Youth Foundation. He highlighted his skills in funding proposals and how they helped him to get this job. Missing the animal aspect, Gregg moved to California working in Marketing and Communications at the Marin Humane Society. Here he learnt many skills that would help him in the future including animal shelter management, public communications, and graphic design. Gregg then returned to Nepal in 2011 and worked as the Development and Communications Manager and acting Executive Director of the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre. Whilst here, he received the Marin Humane Society's Humanitarian of the Year award for his commitment to animal protection worldwide. Gregg then introduces us to PASA. He explained how it started as a collaboration between sanctuaries who wanted to share their primate knowledge to improve success and increase their voice internationally. He states that African primates' main threats are habitat loss, international wildlife trade and the bushmeat crisis. He then goes onto elaborate that PASA's sanctuaries does more than caring for primates. They form strong local connections to ensure the individual sanctuaries are culturally appropriate. This enables them to educate children on the animals, and the villagers on how to feed their families in a sustainable way. Gregg also shares PASA's commitment to member capacity building. This includes training in veterinary care, community, education, fundraising and primate care and welfare. These workshops are decided by the sanctuaries themselves. In doing so, PASA increases their reputation among other conservation organisations. This is crucial as PASA can now influence policy changes within the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES) to better control trafficking of primates internationally. Gregg stresses that the primate reintroduction process in Africa is complicated. There are limited ideal habitats remaining, with most already containing wild populations of territorial primates or has high cases of poaching. Additionally, the whole process is lengthy and expensive. It requires planning, long distance travelling, hiring staff, gradual release, and post-release monitoring. Each primate is assessed to determine individual release suitability in relation to their background and behaviours. Gregg concludes by stressing the importance of connections. He tells a story of when a group of 25 monkeys got ceased from traffickers at Zimbabwe's borders. PASA has no sanctuaries there, however, through connections they found JACK, a chimpanzee sanctuary. PASA helped JACK to fundraise to make suitable enclosures with the overall aim being their reintroduction. Learn about PASA HERE and JACK Sanctuary HERE Learn about CITES HERE Become a member of PAWS HERE

When Jill Robinson moved to Hong Kong in 1985, she soon joined the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Her responsibilities for the position back then included many investigative work in live animal markets and animal protection programmes throughout Asia. There was a time that Jill had the opportunity to visit a bear bile farm and it inspired her to found Animals Asia Foundation with the mission of further improving animal welfare and providing sanctuary for bears rescued from the bear bile industry.Jill shares some of the practical work of the Animals Asia Foundation, including the collaborations with both local communities and governments. She also explains how and why some of the work is done differently in different countries. Jill said, “We are all connected. We all have our individual personalities and characters” and she strongly believes that every individual, animal or human, is worthy of respect. One of her philosophies is to work from the ground up and with local officials and communities to bring positive and long-lasting changes for animals. Jill introduced her Dr. Dog and Professor Paws programmes to the audience. While the former focuses on animal therapy, the latter has dogs accompany children with learning disabilities in educational facilities.Jill continues highlighting the main goals of improving cat and dog welfare and to end cat and dog consumption in China. Jill shares details of the work regarding wild animal welfare, including freeing elephants in the tourism industry.Jill concludes the podcast with the incredible story of how Animals Asia Foundation spent 8 years of efforts in bringing 101 bears out of a bear farm and to one of their sanctuaries. She invites everyone to join Animals Asia Foundation in helping them build their second sanctuary for bears and further end bear bile industries in Vietnam.Together we can rescue the last caged bears in Vietnam HEREBecome a member of PAWS HERE

Award-winning animal welfare attorney and author James Gesualdi, works on animal law since 1989. He is the founding Member and former Chair of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Animals and the Law; Founding Co-Chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association Animal Law Committee; and Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Animal Law Committee. James has a B.A., magna cum laude, with highest honours in Government by the St. Lawrence University; a M.A., in Political Science by the State University of New York at Stony Brook; and a J.D. with Distinction by the Hofstra University School of Law. He was also a recipient of both the Animals and the Law's Exemplary Service Award in 2018 and Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award in 2019. James shares his encounter with a well-known performing dolphin, Little Bit, and how this inspired him into serving people and animals through the power of law. He highlights the importance of not only responding to crises in the zoological world, but also finding means to prevent them from re-occurring in the future,“It's about acting today, not the future” he says. James has written many featured columns on a variety of platforms. James and Sabrina highlight that collaboration can be vital in creating effective change for animals, caregivers, and the public, as well as understand the importance of reviewing legislation and viewing law as a foundation to build upon when caring for animals. James also provides key advice for getting into the animal industry through volunteering and collaborative work, whilst covering experiences he has had of this and how this has helped shaped his career. How we can always do better for animals and going the extra mile is covered in his influential book “Excellence beyond compliance” which is coming out in an updated version in the future. Other inspiring James' quotes: “There's no end to the sources of inspiration we can find and we can share with this world” and “What can we do today to advance animal interests, protection and wellbeing?” Read the American Bar Association Resolution HERE Read the American Bar Association International law section tort trial and insurance practice section HERE Read more about the American Bar Association Calls for the Negotiation of an International Animal Welfare Treaty HERE Read more about the book “Excellence Beyond Compliance: Enhancing Animal Welfare Through the Constructive Use of the Animal Welfare Act” HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Clive Wynne is the founding director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University. He is also the Director of Research at Wolf Park in the USA and the author of many books, including his latest ‘Dog is Love'. Clive is from Britain and he was inspired to study animals while he was studying in London. Later, he went to University of Edinburgh to study for a PhD and further studied animal behaviour and minds, psychology and cognition. Afterwards, Clive had the opportunity to study the behaviour of marsupials in Australia. Then, he went to University of Florida, where he developed a keen interest in animal-human relationship, especially that of dogs and humans, and he then expanded this context to other canines. When speaking of his past and current research interests, Clive starts by talking about the issues of animal shelters in the US, and in particular dogs. As the number of euthanasia cases in shelters have decreased in the past few years, dogs and other shelter animals now often live in unsuitable environments with limited resources. Hence, Clive dedicated himself to the research of helping shelter dogs find new homes. He finds it interesting that people who are planning to adopt a dog don't necessarily know what kind of dog they want. In addition, he also discovered which behaviours that have the greatest impact on the chance of adoption. Clive shares that there is a lack of knowledge of dogs that are not human pets and emphasised how the understanding of dog-dog social relationship, in for example feral dogs, can benefit the studies in human-dog relationship. Continuing, Clive states that dogs have exceptional cognition and special ways to understand people, and gives an example of a project that proposed that dogs are the only species known to understand human pointing gestures. Although other past research showed that wolves do not seem to understand pointing gestures like dogs do, the results of Clive's testing in the Wolf Park indicates differently. Clives states, “The processes of learning are amazingly similar across many different animals. You get different outcomes because different individuals have different experiences in life.” Moreover, Clive explained how the bonds dogs and other canine species form with humans can definitely act as a kind of social enrichment. However, Clive believes that dogs and other canine species simply see us as social companions. Clive mentions an example of differential reinforcement of alternative behaviours through the use of remote controlled feeding device to train dogs to reduce their barking while their humans are not at home. At the end of the podcast, Clive shared some of his future goals. In terms of basic science, he wants to explore and find out more about how dogs view us, their experience with humans and even dog-dog social relationships. On the practical side, he wants to focus on a foster project that aims to not only provide shelter dogs with more opportunities to form social bonds with people but also build a community for both humans and dogs to learn more about each other. Learn more about Clive Wynne' work HERE Learn more about Wolf Park HERE Become a member of PAWS now HERE

Dr Marek Špinka is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science at the Czech University of Life Sciences and in the Department of Psychology at Charles University in Prague. Marek Špinka shares how he began his career studying animals. He wasn't like many others who knew that they wanted to study animals at a young age. During his university years, he was inspired by his biology professor who always had thought-provoking questions for the class.Marek then discusses how his original interests in ethics, philosophy, and human psychology still intersect with comparative psychology and animal ethics, which he teaches at university. He mentions that it is enriching to stop considering animals and humans as separate because we are all animals, just different. During his ethics course, he encourages students to think about their ethical judgements and to consider the other sides of arguments before making these judgements.Marek moves on to discuss his experiences working for the Welfare Quality Network project with farm animals. He believes this project was a successful attempt to develop protocols to use to assess welfare levels in different farms across the EU. This is an important area of research because all farms are different, and this tool could assist in standardizing a quality level across all farms. The AWARE project was also an EU wide project that aimed at spreading the skills and experience that was developed to relatively new members of the project. With an increase in awareness, stakeholders are propelled to consider all sides, better the lives of animals, and have better dialogue with scientists. Honing in on his specific research topics, Dr Marek Špinka goes into discussing emotions in pigs and how vocalizations can be linked to how pigs communicate their emotions. He also defines affective states vs moods and social dynamics. He then goes on to discuss animal agency which is a tool to do things for ourselves and to do better while going through life.Towards the end of the podcast, Marek goes into his favourite research topic: animal play. He had the opportunity to study animal play during two trips which were funded through a Fulbright Scholarship in the USA. He is fascinated by not knowing what play is really for in the animal kingdom. He goes on to discuss reasons for why play behaviour developed in other animals and how it can help in perceiving the world during development. Marek rounds out the podcast by sharing a personal story of when he was 11-years-old, residing in Czechoslovakia in 1968. He and his family fled to Italy and were unsure about being able to go back home. While he was stuck in a train station with other children, he remembers playing with an escalator. It was not a fun time, however, he always remembers how fun it was to play, bringing it back to how play can build resilience.“Play is in fact very resilient and important.. and each single inch of space that we give to play, for the animals, helps a lot not only at this moment, but I think for their whole life.”You can read more about Dr Marek Špinka's work HEREYou can find more information about the Welfare Quality Network project HEREBecome a member of PAWS HERE

Dr. James Karl Fischer operates the Zoological Lighting Institute (ZLI), a charity dedicated to supporting and advocating for photobiology research in wildlife conservation and animal care.Dr. Fischer completed advanced degrees in physics and architecture at Wesleyan University and began his career as an architect, serving as a liaison to architects around the globe. He was inspired to found ZLI after a conversation with a zookeeper who wanted to study the effect of lighting on seahorse colouration, when he realised that there was a huge need to provide animal keepers with the necessary support and funding to conduct more comprehensive studies on light and animal behaviour and physiology.James tells us about how light is central to various aspects of animal life, and how the ZLI supports research into topics including photobiology, sensory ecology and the impact of light on ecosystems. He discusses the way that light influences behaviour and ecology not only in the context of captive animal welfare and the animals we know, but also in the conservation of wildlife.James goes on to tell us about the importance of light in welfare assessments and the Five Domains model of animal welfare: mental, nutrition, environment, health and behaviour. He explains the challenges of monitoring the mental domain in animal welfare assessments and how measuring light could help animal carers to understand unconscious states in animals. He also explains in detail how light regulates hormones and influences biological processes including digestion, and how light provides the opportunities for animals to make choices.James explains how the ZLI supports research through fundraising initiatives and by providing the support for researchers to utilise the most appropriate metrics and equipment to conduct vital research into light. He explains how knowledge of light can be used practically in animal care; for example, by reducing exposure to artificial light in animals where this is known to be harmful, and by supplementing UV light to birds who need UV to properly see colouration on conspecifics.James concludes the podcast by highlighting the importance of natural light and celebrating natural light as a method of reaching out and educating the public on science, physics and animal welfare. He also tells us how the arts can be used to engage and educate people about light, and how the short films produced by ZLI's Film & Media department aim to raise awareness of this complex topic.Learn more about the Zoological Lighting Institute HEREWatch the short film “Fireflies” HERELearn more about the different types of work the ZLI carries out HEREBecome a member of PAWS HERE

Craig Saffoe is the Curator of Large Carnivores at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park located in Washington DC. Overall, he has over 27 years working with animals within zoos.Craig started his career thinking that the only career available in the animal industry, is to become a veterinarian. As such he went to get a degree in Animal Science with a pre-vet track at North Carolina State University. Whilst there he was inspired by a single professor to explore animal husbandry careers. She also helped him to get an internship at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Zoo in 1994. From here, he got hired as an animal keeper and moved through the ranks becoming a curator. Throughout this process, Craig says he “cannot stress enough to the people with whom I work that the most fun part of this career field in my mind is that I feel like I have never stopped learning”.Craig highlights that during his career he has noticed that the zoological and aquatic industry has minimum ethnic minority representation. He observed that black people are perceived as volunteers through an unconscious bias. He even noticed it in himself when observing others whilst at a conference, which mortified him. Craig said it was this moment that seeded the origins of the Association of Minority Zoo and Aquarium Professionals (AMZAP).Craig goes on to say that although COVID-19 has caused a lot of devastation, it gave him time to develop AMZAP further as the zoo was closed down. It also allowed him to drum up more support among different zoo professionals including the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Zoo and the Secretary of the Smithsonian, which gave him confidence with his idea. From here, for Craig, ‘I' became ‘we'. It allowed him to move the idea of AMZAP forward.Craig divulges the importance of remembering that ‘We Weren't the First', by sharing the stories of those who paved the way for the racial and ethnic minorities within the zoological industry. He emphasises that they must have faced so much just getting into the field. They can act as inspirations, encouraging others to express their heritage and be comfortable in themselves to climb the career ladder. AMZAP aims to give advice and tools to help achieve this, in the form of resources and a professional mentor. These mentors are from accredited zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries, which are selected from AMZAPs professional memberships. He further reveals that you do not have to be working in an accredited establishment or be a minority to be an affiliate member. Additionally, AMZAP gains support from organisations by allowing their staff to participate, which in turn gives AMZAP traction.Craig concludes by saying that it became apparent that AMZAP was working when he received an email from a retired black female animal keeper thanking him for establishing AMZAP, wishing that it was present when she was a keeper. Learn more about the Association of Minority Zoo and Aquarium Professionals HERELearn more about “We Weren't The First” HERELearn more about AnimalConcepts supporting AMZAP HEREBecome a member of PAWS HERE