Press Release

AnimalConcepts is joyful to welcome Irma Verhoeven MA and Hannah Jenkins BSc to the team! Irma joins as an Environmental, Education and Social Architect and Hannah as a Storyteller.

Global collaboration is a fundamental value at AnimalConcepts. Irma and Hannah will play important roles in supporting and expanding our services and resources advocating for animal, human, and planetary wellbeing. AnimalConcepts is committed to the Earth Charter and greatly values the overarching principle ‘respect and care for the community of life’. We use the Earth Charter as an ethical lens to guide our decisions and work towards a just, sustainable, peaceful and ethical society. Continuing to create and embody a culture of care is core to our purpose and rooted in and based on an interconnected culture of care and respect. Our perspectives, beliefs, narratives, and expectations have an influence on...

New book available September!

Personal stories and beautiful images of ageing individuals brightening the start of each chapter and remind us that what we do must be in the best interest of the animal and be at the heart of their care.

We are thrilled about our edited volume - all about Optimal Wellbeing of Ageing Wild Animals in Human Care, by Sabrina Brando and Sarah Chapman DVM. A remarkable group of experts, practitioners, and thought-leaders have contributed and we are currently in the process of proofreading.

SUMMARY

Many wild animals in human care live longer than their wild counterparts because of modern care and wellbeing programmes, leading to a growing demographic of ageing animals. This handbook is dedicated to their care. As an innovative expert publication, it integrates all aspects of professional care, including topics such as behaviour, ethics, environmental enrichment, training, veterinary care, nutrition and habitat design. Each animal is unique in their...

Every June the world celebrates Pride Month, marking the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and reflecting on how far we have come towards LGBTQIA+ rights and where we still need to go. At AnimalConcepts, we are celebrating LGBTQIA+ inclusion and championing diversity in the zoo and aquarium community with a brand-new free resource addressing the ways in which animal care and other facilities can support staff, students, and visitors no matter how they identify. You can download the free resource HERE

While we wear the rainbow flag for June, it is important to remember as a community that Pride is not something we think about only for one month of the year. There are always things we can do year-round, whether it is day-to-day changes like sharing your pronouns or using inclusive language, or systemic changes like rewriting our DEI policies or building new gender-inclusive infrastructure.

We presented a webinar on gender diversity and...

This month on the animal wellbeing platform is all about nutrition, and we talk about food relations on the planetary wellbeing platform. How are these two topics interconnected?

Nutrition is an essential aspect to sustain healthy and active animals. A suitable diet should meet energetic requirements, prevent nutritional disorders and diseases, be safe and hygienic, and encourage natural and engaging behaviours. Nutritional needs differ between species and vary across lifespans. Animal care staff works towards ensuring adequate diet and feeding regimes are provided to the animals.

On the other hand, our global food systems are closely intertwined with planetary health, including the quality of soil, water, and global emissions. Contemporary zoos, aquaria, and other animal care facilities play an important role in the dynamics of global food systems, and are recognising their responsibility to reduce their...

ENRICHMENT FOR BIRDS OF PREY

A new & free resource is available! Many different facilities and organisations around the world have excellent ideas, activities, research, and other opportunities in the space of caring for birds of prey in human care. we combined some in this new booklet where you can find different resources for the enrichment of birds of prey including owls, vultures, hawks, eagles, and other raptor species living in human care. Thanks to all for their efforts!

The free resource can be downloaded HERE

Celebrating 3 years together

On April 9th, 2020, the AnimalConcepts membership experience launched for the first time, with the Practical Animal Welfare Science platform. In 2021 One Care and Earth Charter-SDG platforms were added to focus on human wellbeing and planetary wellbeing respectively. The interconnected learning platform combines animal, human, and planetary wellbeing content and is unique in the world, offering varied, affordable, and accessible continued professional and personal development, sharing, and learning for all. We have spent the past 3 years developing the platforms with webinars, webposters, activity books, podcasts, and a variety of other resources across a variety of learning styles.

We have continually learned and improved thanks to community feedback since we first launched, and we are pleased to give back to the community with this free celebratory resource and activity book. In 2023, we officially renamed our interconnected...

HOT OFF THE PRESS: 

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center, in collaboration with Kore Zoo, AnimalConcepts and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance recently published a groundbreaking study titled Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe and Effective at Reducing Undesirable Behaviors in California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals during Rehabilitation 

The use of environmental enrichment with wild animals in rescue and rehabilitation facilities has not always been welcomed, appreciated for its opportunities, or utilised. This collaborative study was conducted by the staff and volunteers at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in California, USA on Northern Elephant seals and California sea lions. The positive outcomes hopefully encourage more organisations to use as well as study the benefits of environmental enrichment to support positive wellbeing through cognitive, social, physical, and other challenges. Enrichment devices can assist young animals during critical...

Animal Sentience and Welfare: A Self-help Guide by Professor Emeritus John Webster

"For more than 50 years my thoughts and deeds have focused on animal sentience and animal welfare, viewed, so far as possible through their eyes, not ours. I offer this site as an introduction to these things, as I understand them, for all who care, whatever their age and experience. My approach is based on the principle of Reverence for Life. My rules of engagement are constrained by the principles of sound science. Together, these drive me to the conclusion that all life is worthy of respect and no species is better or more worthy of our respect than any other. My aim throughout this brief introduction to the philosophy, science and practice of animal welfare is not to suggest what you should think but to present structures upon which you can develop your own thoughts and interpret your experience. There are links for those who want to dig deeper. I have put these ideas on a website...

“Waking up this morning I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live each moment deeply. And to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion” - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet

Since the online platforms went live in 2020, we have always been focused on the interconnected nature of animal, human, and planetary wellbeing. All of us at AnimalConcepts are delighted to share that we have given the interconnected platforms and membership experiences the overarching name of INTERBEING. This name is inspired by the teachings of the late global spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh.
INTERBEING is a term coined by Buddhist scholar Thich Nhat Hanh that refers to the interconnectedness of all – the insight that all beings and things exist in relationship to each other. Interbeing recognises that we are dependent on nature and also each other to live and that we do not exist outside or above nature, but are fully enmeshed within it.

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