Dolphin-WET-Development of a Welfare Evaluation Tool for Bottlenose Dolphins () under Human Care.

Ensuring high standards of animal welfare is not only an ethical duty for zoos and aquariums, but it is also essential to achieve their conservation, education, and research goals. While for some species, animal welfare assessment frameworks are already in place, little has been done for marine animals under human care. Responding to this demand, the welfare committee of the European Association for Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) set up a group of experts on welfare science, cetacean biology, and zoo animal medicine across Europe.

Clinical, radiographic and histological findings of seven teeth from two California sea lions () housed under professional care.

Seven teeth extracted from two adult California sea lions () due to pulp exposure and/or to gain access to the mandibular canine teeth were histologically evaluated, and the findings were compared with clinical and radiographic findings. Three teeth were diagnosed with pulp exposure, and two of these showed no radiographic signs of endodontic disease and were histologically vital with prominent coronal pulpitis and a pulp polyp. Another tooth with pulp exposure was showing clinical and radiographic signs of endodontic disease and was histologically confirmed with pulp necrosis.

Survival improvements of marine mammals in zoological institutions mirror historical advances in human longevity.

An intense public debate has fuelled governmental bans on marine mammals held in zoological institutions. The debate rests on the assumption that survival in zoological institutions has been and remains lower than in the wild, albeit the scientific evidence in support of this notion is equivocal. Here, we used statistical methods previously applied to assess historical improvements in human lifespan and data on 8864 individuals of four marine mammal species (harbour seal, ; California sea lion, ; polar bear, ; common bottlenose dolphin, ) held in zoos from 1829 to 2020.

Behavioural Diversity Study in Bottlenose Dolphin () Groups and Its Implications for Welfare Assessments.

In the recent past, animal welfare studies have tried to determine the best animal welfare measures and indicators. Expression of behavioural diversity is considered a potential positive welfare indicator, and to the authors' knowledge, it has not been validated nor studied in cetaceans. For the first time, a behavioural diversity study on bottlenose dolphins groups was conducted at six European facilities.