Developing and validating a holistic welfare assessment tool for zoo-housed great apes: Integrating resource-based measures with behavioural ecology insights.

ABSTRACT: Assessing the welfare of zoo-housed great apes is essential to ensure high standards of care, maintain zoos' ethical and educational credibility, and support their conservation roles. However, welfare assessment remains challenging due to the complex cognitive, social, and behavioural needs of great apes and the limitations of existing evaluation methods. Many zoos rely on resource-based measures, which are easy to collect but lack the specificity needed to assess welfare accurately. In this study, we developed and tested a new standardized, evidence-based approach that integrated resource-based data with ecological and behavioural insights. This Ape Welfare Assessment, Resources and Ecology (AWARE) Tool was developed through collaboration with the Great Ape Welfare group (GAWg) and aimed

SUBMITTER: Neufuss J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12858012 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature