It is difficult to define the term animal welfare because everyone has different standards of ethics, policy and philosophy for judging what animal welfare is. However, in the general sense of people who have connection with various animals, it can be defined as "to minimize pain and suffering of animals under human use". In this sense, it is justified to use animals for human needs and to kill animals for human utilization when the method is applied as painlessly and quickly as possible. "Five freedoms" and "Three R" define the ideal state for use of domestic animals and laboratory animals, respectively. These are incorporated into many international guidelines and are also applicable to companion animals and even to wild animals. In regard to the animal welfare, the Japanese Society of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine declares to protect the dignity and the quality of life (QOL) of animals in zoos and in the wild that are used as subjects for various studies involving zoo and wildlife medicine.

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Euthanasia is the death that occurs with minimal or no pain. Although the regulation about humane killing of animals is established by Act on Welfare and Management of Animals in Japan, but the act is intended for animals under the control of human, such as pet animals, zoo and aquarium animals, livestock, and laboratory animals. The act that specifies the humane killing of wildlife has not been fixed yet. However, actually for example in the population control for various damages mitigation, control of invasive alien species, wildlife rescue and research, there are many situations that needs killing of wildlife. In order to not only relieve the mental stress and social pressure experienced in taking lives of animals but achieve the accountability for euthanasia of wildlife, a method that minimizes as much as possible the pain and distress to the animal should be used. It is desired for the future maintenance of the guidelines on euthanasia of wildlife and developing the education and training of experts.

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Field research methods to study wild animals are divided into two major categories, lethal and non-lethal method. Lethal research often is an essential component when investigators conduct systematic zoology, comparative anatomy, disease assessment, food preference studies, environmental contaminant evaluations and other various scientific tasks. Objective assessment of a lethal research plan should involve the following points; 1) there is not duplicate information already available in the scientific literature or presently collected accessible scientific samples, 2) proposed information can not be collected with non-lethal methods, 3) the methods of collection should minimize the potential for the taking of non target species, 4) the number, age class and sex of collections to be taken should be as appropriate for data evaluation as possible, 5) proposed number to be taken should not have a negative impact on the natural population or local stock of the species, and 6) the animal to be taken should be killed as quickly as possible by the appropriate method. In Japan, lethal research of wild animals is applied to various species from small rodents to large whales. However, evaluation for the animal welfare aspect of the research method is different by each investigator and/or research organization because of there is no applicable law in existence. The JSZWM Animal welfare committee will aim to develop guidelines for wild animal use in Japan to establish a clear and specific animal welfare reference for field researchers.

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During a visit to a zoo, a visitor's impression of the quality of life of the animals may include concerns about stress and confined conditions. Now, since most wildlife exhibited is bred in captivity, is it true that these zoo animals have endured stress in familiar surroundings where they were born and raised? On the other hand, are these animals under stress if they are only exposed to a monotonous life without stimulation and proper nutritional management or are afflicted with preventable diseases? Animal welfare is often an emotionally discussed issue, but the Japanese Society of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine aims to scientifically evaluate this issue, irrespective of its anthropocentric emotional value. Zoos make significant efforts to improve the captive environment for animals by applying "environmental enrichment" as a tool for keeping animals physically and mentally healthy. In addition, "preventive medicine" and "veterinary health care" applied wildlife medicine to might be questioned from the viewpoint of animal protection or rights, but is performed for health management. For example, although vaccination, physical examination under anesthesia and surgical operations can be stressors for an animal in the short term, these measures undoubtedly increase longevity and contribute to the conservation of endangered species. Furthermore, the scientific data obtained from captive individuals can be used for the conservation of the wild population. It is also necessary for zoo staffs to refine euthanasia techniques of the animal that cannot maintain good quality of life. Moreover, zoos can provide a valuable educational experience for the purpose of understanding animal welfare through hands-on experience with domestic and companion animals and the release of information about, for example, an animal's death and the cause. Zoos should keep animals in a manner that accommodates their natural behavior and ecology, and therefore impress the visitor by exhibiting animals in their natural life; birth and death. Animal welfare developed for each individual animal contributes to wildlife welfare, and consequently, natural environmental conservation. To this end, it is necessary to assess an animal's welfare scientifically and develop appropriate criteria for evaluating the success of environmental enrichment.

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Various practice using living and dead wild animals are often conducted in school education, including general education. I executes serial student practice including trapping, making of stuff specimens, skull measuring, and age estimation of large Japanese field mice (Apodemus speciosus) in every year. I have also performed some educational programs using the wild animals (stuffs and skeletons) in elementary and junior high schools. Lethal use of the animals may involve an important significance to introduce the students to the real sense of death. Some ethical improvements are difficult in my procedures of student practice; e.g. reduction of consumed animals is impossible in the practice in which one stuff specimen is made per one student. But I have never been confined my procedures by animal experiment committee in my university. I always notice to maximize the chance of various use of animal carcasses generated in the educational practice to scientific research. Such multiple use of animal carcass is ethical because of reduction of total number of animals consumed. Accountability has the most importance to use wild animals for the educational purpose.

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Rays are often exhibited at Japanese aquaria because of their interesting morphological features and behavior. However, their husbandry and clinical care are not without risk due to their large body size and sharp spines at the dorsal base of the caudal peduncles. Therefore, sedation or anesthesia may be required during these procedures. This study aimed to explore the sedative and/or anesthetic effects of 2-phenoxyethanol on cow-nosed ray (Rhinoptera javanica). A total of 12 cow-nosed rays reared at Okinawa Marine Research Center, Japan were used in this study. 2-phenoxyethanol was diluted to 200, 400 and 600ppm with filtered seawater, experimental fish were immersed in the diluted anesthetics, and their behavioral responses and respiratory rates were examined every 5 minutes. After the experiments, the fish were moved to seawater without 2-phenoxyethanol and the awakening periods were measured. Each experiment was performed at both high- and low-water temperatures. We conclude that 400ppm of 2-phenoxyethanol is the optimal concentration to safely sedate and/or anesthetize the cow-nosed ray at both high- and low-water temperatures.

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A 15-year-old female Grant's zebra, housed in Yagiyama Zoological Park, Sendai was presented with anorexia, abdominal distension and excretion of soft stool. Although clinical signs were temporarily improved with treatments, the animal again got into anorexia, and died after 3 months. By necropsy, a spherical enterolith (14×12×11cm, 1,400g) accompanied with partial rupture of colon was observed. In addition, the zebra was pregnant. By histopathological investigation, the mucosal epithelium of stomach and duodenum was abraded, sloughed and/or infiltrated with inflammatory cells. In cross section the enterolith had layered structure grossly that broadly divided into 2 regions; inner nuclear region that had wheel axis structure including hard and soft segments, and outer homogeneous shell region. Samples were obtained from each segment, and performed mineral elements analysis. Magnesium (Mg), calcium and phosphorus (P) were in high levels at any portion; however potassium, Mg and P were the highest proportion in the innermost layer of the shell. On the other hand, natrium, iron, mangan, zinc and copper were the highest proportion in the soft segment of the outermost layer of nuclear region. In this case, the enterolith appeared to be formed by deposition of calcium phosphate or magnesium phosphate around foreign bodies in feces of colon over a long period in this aged zebra. The enterolith probably caused partial or complete obstruction of the intestinal lumen that contributed clinically to anorexia, soft and scant stool and abdominal distention.

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Two adult flukes were found in a cyst in the left lung of a captive meerkat (suricate, Suricata suricatta) in a zoo in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. They have been identified as Paragonimus miyazakii Kamo, Nishida, Hatsushika et Tomimura, 1961, on the basis of morphological features of the adult flukes and those of the eggs in the feces, as well as a ribosomal DNA sequence. The suricate was possibly infected by ingesting wild Japanese freshwater crab (Geothelphusa dehaani) wandering into the placeof breeding exhibition. This is the first confirmed case of P. miyazakii infection in a meerkat imported to a Japanese zoo.

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