Revision Policy of Guidelines for Animal Welfare in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine by Japanese Society of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine

Abstract

　The development of acts and regulations on animal welfare in wildlife is still behind compared to domestic animals and laboratory animals. Japanese Society of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (JSZWM) repeatedly discussed the current situation and issues of animal welfare and ethics on wildlife medicine, and then published Guidelines for Animal Welfare in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (2010). However, due to recent changes in international trends on wild animal welfare, the current JSZWM guidelines have been required revision. JSZWM not only targets of various species from fishes to mammals, but also handles wild animals in a variety of situations, including researches, zoos and aquariums, wildlife rehabilitations, education and pet amimals. For these reasons, The Wildlife Conservation and Animal Welfare Committee of JSZWM will formulate general guidelines that are common to target animal species and handling pursues, and then sequentially develop each protocol according to the taxon and handling situations. For the revision of the guidelines, it will be necessary to collaborate with research and education institutions and other related academic societies in Japan and overseas.