An analysis of welfare standards within tiger (Panthera tigris) facilities in Thailand

Erzinçlioğlu, TS, Groves, G and Ward, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5857-1071, 2024. An analysis of welfare standards within tiger (Panthera tigris) facilities in Thailand. Zoo Biology. ISSN 0733-3188

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Abstract

In Thailand, tigers are more numerous in captivity than they are in the wild, with 51 facilities housing approximately 1962 tigers. As charismatic fauna, tigers are popular with tourists, and the majority of facilities offer a variety of entertainment activities with controversial reports towards the animals' welfare. The aim of this research was to investigate tiger welfare in Thai zoos to identify specific welfare issues. We assessed 34 tourism facilities holding tigers in Thailand in 2019 using a 25-point welfare assessment that utilizes the Five Domain model (incorporating all five domains: nutrition, physical environment, health, behavioural interactions and mental state). The mental domain score was derived from the scores of the other four domains. Additional data were collected from each facility, including the number of tigers, any colour variants, types of human interaction and admission cost. Welfare scores for each domain were calculated by totalling the scores per domain and dividing by the number of points allocated to that domain. A multiple regression was used to identify any significant predictors of mental domain score. The results revealed that the provision of a suitable physical environment scored the lowest, while nutrition scored the highest though this was still a low score overall. The multiple regression showed that 45.4% of the variance for the mental domain score was significantly affected by the number of colour variants housed and the types of human interaction available with facilities, with more of both these factors contributing to a more negative score. Our results demonstrate the need for urgent, comprehensive infrastructural, species-appropriate environment and design and animal management improvements to increase animal welfare. Informed institutional change toward the breeding and use of tigers for public interactions is also required. This is the first assessment completed of captive tiger welfare of tiger facilities in Thailand and shows that the welfare concerns encountered are within a high proportion (67%) of Thailand's facilities. This supports the need for the creation and enforcement of effective and clear captive wildlife operational standards to provide a sustained solution for captive tiger welfare and can provide a considered approach to ex-situ tiger management that, in conjunction with in-situ efforts, can improve much needed conservation efforts of this species.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Zoo Biology
Creators:	Erzinçlioğlu, T.S., Groves, G. and Ward, S.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	16 September 2024
ISSN:	0733-3188
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1002/zoo.21866 DOI 2217470 Other
Rights:	© 2024 The Author(s). Zoo Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	18 Sep 2024 09:34
Last Modified:	18 Sep 2024 09:34
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52250

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