A day in the life of an Animal Welfare Officer

Collaboration, observation and communication are daily tasks for Animal Welfare Research Officer Amy-Rose.

WORDS Alegria Alano

Amy-Rose’s creative upbringing made her choice of career at the Zoo was quite unexpected. “I assumed I would be a rock star. I have a musician and painter as parents and I followed suit until I realised I had a passion for animals,” Amy-Rose says.

Her new interest took her back to university to study zoology. She then volunteered with Zoos Victoria, which led to her current role as an Animal Welfare Research Officer. “Petstock partnered with Zoos Victoria and generously funded this role. We’re working with them to promote animal welfare, not just in a zoo setting, but also for domestic animals,” she says.

What is animal welfare?

Animal welfare science goes beyond physical health and aims for thriving animals. This includes providing habitats with opportunities for choice and enriching experiences for the animals.

“Zoos Victoria prides itself on being a justified, humane and effective zoo-based conservation organisation. Core to this is providing for the wellbeing of animals,” she explains. Learning how to provide this is where research comes into play. “To achieve our goals, we need to assess the effectiveness of our actions and how they support the animals in our care,” says Amy-Rose.

Checking in

Amy-Rose is part of a team of five in the Animal Welfare Life Sciences Team; however, projects often start with the keepers. Each morning, the team will meet to check in and update each other on projects and address the keepers’ questions. “It’s important for us to think about how we can work on a project together so that the animal gets the most benefit. Part of this is figuring out who has the best suited skills and the time, because time management is very important in our team. Then we plan the best way forward,” she says.

A watchful eye

‘Ethology’ is the study of animal behaviour, and this is another daily task for Amy-Rose. “Whether that’s watching Hutan the Sumatran Tiger react to a new enrichment opportunity, or watching butterflies choose what to land on… observing and capturing data about animals to try to understand how they perceive their world is a big part of my role,” she explains. This data helps keepers understand behaviour patterns, determine unusual behaviour and discover what an animal’s preferences are. This can influence decisions like providing their favourite food or structures for exercise. “Data and science are big at Zoos Victoria, because our decision-making is always evidence based. Guessing can only get you so far, so when you really understand the animals, you can do better for them,” says Amy-Rose.

Knowledge sharing

Another big part of each day is sharing the data that Amy-Rose collects. “Depending on the scope of a project, we may decide to write a published paper to share findings with other zoos, or write a report or email to update keepers,” she says.

This knowledge-sharing can be ongoing, as is the case with Amy-Rose’s elephant research that began in 2018. “Each round is about 30 days of data collection... at the end of each research period, I write a report of findings for the elephant team,” she explains.

Some observations include interactions between herd members, how they use their environment, feeding habits and what enrichment they enjoy. The keepers then change their work routines and management plans to fit with the data. “We’ve just finished the third version of that research almost four years later and it’s contributing to the improvement of how the keepers run their day and provide for the animals,” Amy-Rose says.

Animal welfare science is constantly evolving and changing, so continuous improvement is important. Change is also what Amy-Rose loves about her work: “The best part of my role is the variety. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to work with such a wide range of species. Trying to understand animals is rewarding, challenging and ever-changing. It’s incredible.” ZN

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