Conservation and animal wellbeing are two key goals of the modern zoo and aquarium. In the case of ex situ conservation breeding programs, there is a unique paradox between these concepts; on some occasions, facilities must balance and mitigate arising conflicts between the wellbeing of animals with the goals of the conservation project. Exerting control over the reproductive lives of animals—choosing when and where they breed, whom they breed with, whether breeding is prohibited altogether, and so on—results in an inherent reduction in the animal’s agency. Considering the growing recognition that providing choice and control to animals enhances wellbeing, it is essential to examine how populations and their breeding are managed. The present review presents challenges in supporting agency for animals bred ex situ by thoroughly exploring the practical realities of working with these animals. Various challenges and areas of consideration, including current research directions, suggestions for future practices, and opportunities moving forward, are highlighted. The importance of careful population management in maximising wellbeing, including the inherent dichotomy of the necessity to limit some reproductive autonomy to preserve animal wellbeing while meeting the needs of breeding programs.

Social network analysis (SNA) is an increasingly utilised technique in the literature examining the social structures and organisation of animals and understanding the bonds between groups and individuals. Using a case study as an illustration, the applications of SNA are explored, including the identification of dominance hierarchies and detection of sources of social pressure, with a particular focus on the applications of SNA to holistic assessments of animal welfare alongside other methods. Based on the examination of social dynamics in a family group of four black lemurs (Eulemur macaco), a primate whose social organisation is characterised by patterns of female dominance, it is demonstrated that SNA can be used to examine the affiliative and agonistic interactions between individuals living in human care. SNA showed species-typical forms of female dominance that were largely directed towards the two males, characterised by the initiation of aggressive interactions and male submission. More intricate relationships and consistent social roles across networks were revealed through the examination of SNA. It is concluded that SNA has wide-ranging benefits in the assessment of effects of environmental changes, such as informing social management decisions, developing enrichment and intervention programs, and guiding overall improvements to the housing and care of individual animals. SNA, as part of an animal welfare toolbox, could, therefore, be a pivotal technique for modern animal welfare assessment that considers individual animals and their social lives. By sharing a case study of the technique in use, it is hoped that animal collections may adopt similar modern and evidence-based assessment methods.

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Using Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) surveys, this study evaluated whether QBA has value as a welfare assessment in two species of zoo-housed non-human primate taxa: saki monkeys (Pithecia pithecia) and ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Surveys asked participants with varying familiarity with primate behaviour to use a Visual Analogue Scale to describe videos of animals in multiple contextual settings against fixed emotional descriptors. QBA results were then compared with quantitative ethogram data from a professional observer. Principal Component Analysis revealed two dominant QBA dimensions, which were termed Valence and Arousal, with no detectable influence of observer experience on participant rating of either dimension. However, correlations between QBA dimensions and specific observed behaviours were uniformly weak, suggesting that observers may utilise holistic expressive styles when categorising affective state rather than discrete behaviours. These findings have potential in informing evidence-based assessments of psychological wellbeing in animals.