Ep7 Dr. David Shepherdson on enrichment, animal welfare and conservation

<p>Dr. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Shepherdson">David Shepherdson</a> is a biologist with a long and distinguished career in zoo animal welfare and conservation. David was inspired by Tinbergen, Durrell, and Lorentz, and completed a Ph.D. in ethology, on the European badgers in England. <br><br>David got a job at the London Zoo in the late '80 with a renewed interest in animal welfare, ignited by the work and book by the late <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&amp;rh=p_27%3AHal+Markowitz&amp;s=relevancerank&amp;text=Hal+Markowitz&amp;ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1">Hal Markowitz</a>, 'behavioral enrichment at the zoo'. Working on zoo animal welfare, and specifically the psychological and behavioural needs. <br><br>David moved to the Oregon Zoo where he had a long career working with many different scientists, care staff, and students, conducting multi-institutional studies, covering topics such as environmental enrichment, stereotypic behaviour, and together with other experts, on the physiology and other measures for different animal welfare assessments. Including studies on <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150331">space use of elephants</a>, daily walking distances, environmental and social factors, and welfare indicators.<br><br>David interacted with the <a href="https://www.aza.org/animals-and-conservation">American Zoo Association</a> and the larger zoo world, was part of the establishment of the AZA animal welfare committee, and affecting change for animals globally. <br><br>David also mentioned the importance of understanding the history of the topic of animal welfare, where concepts and thinking came from, including work by biologist <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/zoo.1430110602">Heini Hediger</a> and Dr. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Terry_Maple">Terry Maple</a>, and how many ideas, thinking, and concepts that have already been written about, which can be revisited and used today.<br