Ensuring animal welfare is a key aspect of animal management in zoological facilities and aquaria, representing a pivotal facet of their mission. Italy currently lacks a comprehensive and valuable assessment methodology for evaluating the welfare of captive animals. To address this gap, the present study aimed to identify the most important criteria that should be considered in the welfare management and assessment of animals housed in Italian zoos and aquaria. To pinpoint this issue, we engaged experts with diverse backgrounds, structuring their communication throughout an iterative process, by applying the Delphi methodology. A pilot and three Delphi rounds were administered online to 74 experts, asking them to a) validate relevant topics derived from current legislation and guidelines divided into three clusters: Care, Wellbeing, and Regulation; b) assess the relevance of these topics across taxonomic groups; c) propose and confirm indicators for each identified topic; d) suggest and refine a list of questions for animal welfare assessment. The results were three lists of questions, one for each cluster, with a total of 80 topics, 174 indicators, and 272 questions identified by the experts. The aspects included in these lists offer valuable insights into the main aspects experts consider relevant for captive animal welfare. Despite the complexity of animal welfare and the huge amount of species hosted in zoos limiting the possibility to cover this aspect with a single expert consultation, this project actively addresses the urgent need for standardization in animal welfare assessment, contributing to the ongoing development of zoological regulations in Italy. This is especially important given the current limited legislative framework, underscoring the link between animal welfare and successful ex-situ species conservation. These questions can be the basis of fine-tuned protocols to be tested in future projects aiming at animal welfare self-assessment, thus supporting authority inspection processes.

Genome Resources Banks (GRBs) represent vital repositories for the systematic collection, storage, and management of genetic material across various taxa, with a primary objective of safeguarding genetic diversity for research and practical applications. Alongside the development of assisted reproductive techniques (ART), GRBs have evolved into indispensable tools in conservation, offering opportunities for species preservation, mitigating inbreeding risks, and facilitating genetic management across fragmented populations. By preserving genetic information in a suspended state, GRBs serve as backups against population vulnerabilities, potentially aiding in the restoration of endangered species and extending their genetic lifespan. While evidence demonstrates the efficacy of GRBs, ethical considerations surrounding biobanking procedures for wildlife conservation remain largely unexplored. In this article, we will discuss possible ethical issues related to GRBs and the need to ethically monitor biobanking procedures in wildlife conservation. We will then propose a methodological tool, ETHAS, already in use for the ethical self-assessment of assisted reproduction techniques, to assess also biobanking procedures. ETHAS can make it possible to monitor a GRB from its design phase to its actual operation, helping to build biobanking procedures that meet high ethical standards.

This study aimed to investigate how three groups of people of differing ages, and with differing knowledge of the species, perceived the emotional state of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) managed in captive and semi-captive environments. Fifteen video-clips of 18 elephants, observed during three different daily routines (release from and return to the night boma; interactions with visitors), were used for a free choice profiling assessment (FCP) and then analyzed with quantitative methods. A general Procrustes analysis identified two main descriptive dimensions of elephant behavioral expression explaining 27% and 19% of the variability in the children group, 19% and 23.7% in adults, and 21.8% and 17% in the expert group. All the descriptors the observers came up with showed a low level of correlation on the identified dimensions. All three observers’ groups showed a degree of separation between captive and semi-captive management. Spearman analyses showed that stereotypic “trunk swirling” behavior correlated negatively with first dimension (free/friendly versus sad/bored) in the children’s group; second dimension (agitated/confident versus angry/bored) amongst the adults; and first dimension (active/excited versus agitated/bored) amongst the experts. More studies are needed to investigate other potential differences in assessing elephants’ emotional states by visitors of different ages and backgrounds.

Human dimensions in endangered species conservation are often overlooked. However, including human dimensions in conservation projects can help conservationists integrate social and ecological dimensions and investigate individual or society’s perspectives toward conservation efforts. The aim of this study was to investigate how visitors of a protected area perceived the conservation of the native white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes), a species recently brought to disappearance by the introduction of the spiny-cheek crayfish (Faxonius limosus). From August to October 2017, we distributed a questionnaire to park visitors, aiming to: (i) identify behaviors that could affect the conservation of the native crayfish after reintroduction; (ii) investigate if visitors’ awareness and knowledge of native freshwater crayfish may increase approval for conservation initiatives. Of the 290 respondents, most (73%) had never heard of alien species. The respondents’ inclination to be favorable to resource investment and alien crayfish eradication and to perform specific educational training was significantly related to their knowledge of crayfish features. Knowledge of freshwater crayfish features resulted in being a main determinant in affecting visitors’ attitudes towards conservation initiatives. These results confirm that visitors’ awareness can increase approval for conservation programs and the importance of investigating the proper human dimensions before establishing management actions for endangered species.