Virtual animal welfare training in South Korea
The Wild Welfare team has been delivering virtual training in South Korea.
The charity’s field director and animal welfare field manager were invited to present an animal welfare webinar to staff from Seoul Grand Park Zoo earlier this month.
The online event, delivered to nearly 50 animal care staff, discussed the principles of animal welfare and highlighted the Five Domains of animal welfare compromise.
Wild Welfare’s field director, Dave Morgan, said: “It feels exciting to be training in a new country, albeit virtually for now. We discussed the differences between health and welfare, the importance of agency within an animal’s life and even the capacity of a fish to experience different emotions.
“Understanding the principles of animal welfare is vital to ensure care and management of animals is consistently of a good standard.”
Working in South Korea is still relatively new for Wild Welfare, a first project took place in October 2020, with participation in an online welfare forum on the care of Oriental Storks.
The recent presentation emphasised the importance of ensuring that animals in captive facilities are provided with comfort, choice and control, and after the one and a half hour webinar there was a question and answer session.
Seoul Grand Park Zoo’s curator, Hyunjoo Jang said she found the presentation very informative and loved the messages that were given to the audience.
Wild Welfare has been conducting more online training to its overseas partners since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and travel was restricted and has a dedicated Webinar Learning Platform on its website.
The recent event has further highlighted the importance of the charity moving its training online, something which has enabled wildlife facilities around the world to continue to receive support and move forward with their animal welfare improvements.
Wild Welfare’s animal Welfare field manager, Sarah Blake, who facilitated the webinar, said “It was fantastic to see everyone really engaged with the content and asking lots of questions. We really hope we can do more training within South Korea in the future.”
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Notes to Editors:
For more information or interview requests please contact Wild Welfare on communications@wildwelfare.org
Wild Welfare is a global organisation committed to improving animal welfare for captive wild animals. By working together with animal welfare organisations and captive wildlife facilities, including zoos, aquariums and sanctuaries, we achieve long-term and sustainable solutions to the most critical issues facing wild animals in captivity.
Our vision is a world where every captive wild animal is able to thrive and live a good life. Find out more at: wildwelfare.org. Registered charity in England and Wales No.1165941.
