As part of the Animal Ethics & Welfare this year our lecturer organized a field trip to Chester Zoo. The trip was divided into two separate section: the 1st half of our day we were left to wander around the zoo and go to see our favorite animals in their enclosures; the 2nd half of the day we attended a workshop with some members of the Chester Zoo’s staff.
During the morning me and my friends went around the zoo looking for the species that we were most interested in while wondering what the workshop was going to be like and discussing about interesting animal facts and behaviors.
Overall the 1st half of the day went by fairly quickly and unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go see all the species in the zoo.
After a quick lunch break we rejoined with all the other students in our module and our lecturer and moved to a lecture-type room not far from the jaguar enclosure.
Here we were introduced to two members of the staff at Chester Zoo that gave us a riveting lecture on the role of modern zoos in conservation, animal ethics in practice and the differences between ethics and welfare, and zoo research projects.
For the final part of the lecture we, in groups of 6-7 people, were assigned a research project that touched topics of animal ethics and welfare and discussing it within our group we had to decide whether we would allow the study to be carried out and why and if not include changes on the study and/or motivation of why it would be unethical to carry it out.
Our project was in regard of the decline in population of the critically endangered white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) due to poisoning from diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug commonly used in India on cattle. The study focused on testing a new drug on a closely related endangered species, the white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus).
After a engaged discussion we came up with the idea that the study should have had at least some changes before being carried out. First of all the study only focused on a very short period of time, without including an accurate analysis on possible long term effects of the drug.
Secondly it would have been best if the drug was also tested on a Least Concern labeled species first even if not as closely related as the white-backed vulture, as the negative effects on an already endangered species could do serious damage to its population.
After our discussion every group was asked to present their thoughts to the rest of the class and discuss them with the other groups and with the lecturers.
When our turn came up I was proud to hear that one of the lecturers thought our project was actually the most difficult one out of the available choices and that he was impressed with our work.
Thoughts & Opinions
This field trip and workshop were captivating and I very much enjoyed both parts of the day, the second one being by far one of the best and most helpful workshop I took part in.
Wild Nature 