The intersection between nutrition and animal welfare science: report on the second AZA Animal Wellbeing Summit
Citation
Treiber KH. 2025. The intersection between nutrition and animal welfare science: report on the second AZA Animal Wellbeing Summit. In Treiber K, Brooks M, D’amato-Anderson J, Nylander J, Eds. Proceedings of the Sixteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Oklahoma City, OK.
Abstract
Animal wellbeing may be defined in terms of five domains (Mellor et al., 2020). Four physiological domains – nutrition, physical environment, physical health, and behavioral interaction – provide the foundation for the experienced mental state. Together, these five factors determine welfare. The Five Domains Model was the keynote address at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Inaugural Wellbeing Summit in 2024. However, nutrition and nutritionists were absent from the discussion. Recognizing this critical oversight, members organized a second Wellbeing Summit in 2025: Beyond the Bowl: The intersection of nutrition, animal health, behavioral husbandry, and animal welfare science. This second summit was presented as a collaborative workshop on nutrition and feeding with discussions on diet creation, diet presentation, and nutrition assessment. Animal care professionals with diverse expertise including nutritionists, veterinarians, behaviorists, animal managers, and frontline staff were recruited to share perspectives and discuss challenges pertaining to the nutritional management of exotic animals. Goals of the workshop were to seek strategies to improve nutrition for all AZA collections, including institutions unable to support a full-time nutritionist, and to better understand all roles involved in the optimal feeding of animals. The production and outcome of this nutrition-focused summit has important implications to the perception and application of nutrition and nutritional science within AZA.
TreiberAZAWorkshop2025S3.pdf 211 KB
