Evolving Zoo Animal Welfare Science with Dr. Lance J. Miller of Brookfield Zoo Chicago

2024-12-11

Download

Send us a textExplore zoo animal welfare with Dr. Lance J. Miller, a leading authority in animal welfare science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, formerly Chicago Zoological Society's Brookfield Zoo.Lance is Vice President of Animal Welfare Science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, but he also holds a slough of other appointments. He’s Chair of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums Animal Welfare Committee, an Advisor to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Research and Technology Committee, Ani...

Send us a text

Explore zoo animal welfare with Dr. Lance J. Miller, a leading authority in animal welfare science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, formerly Chicago Zoological Society's Brookfield Zoo.

Lance is Vice President of Animal Welfare Science at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, but he also holds a slough of other appointments.

He’s Chair of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums Animal Welfare Committee, an Advisor to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Research and Technology Committee, Animal Welfare Committee, and the Behavioral Scientific Advisory Group, and he’s a Steering Committee Member for AZA’s Ambassador Animal Scientific Advisory Group.

Lance is also internationally active in the field, currently serving as the Vice-Chair for the World Association of Zoos and Aquarium's (WAZA) Ethics and Animal Welfare Committee, and as Chair of the WAZA Ethics Subcommittee.

There's a lot to take in here. We talk about:

the difference between animal rights and welfare
going beyond the five freedoms to providing opportunities to thrive
the cetacean welfare study - the largest multi-institutional study of cetacean welfare in existence
behavioral diversity, behavioral stereotypies, and other indicators of indicator of animal welfare
how technology like Zoo PhysioTrack and ZooMonitor are reshaping the landscape of animal welfare monitoring
the ethics of animals in zoos and the perceptions of visitors in relation to conservation and welfare

This episode will enrich your understanding of a complex, interdisciplinary field that blends science and ethics and showcases in the best case human compassion and commitment to the animals we keep at zoos and aquariums.

I hope you enjoy the conversation!

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

Here's what you can do to get in touch!