Exploring Animal Welfare in Practice
Discover the highlights of the recent EAZA Animal Welfare Forum, hosted by Antwerp Zoo, from 16 to 19 March 2026.
EAZA Animal Welfare Forum 2026
It's a wrap! The third edition of the EAZA Animal Welfare Forum (AWF) took place in Antwerp Zoo (Belgium) over three engaging days, bringing together over 210 participants from 34 countries and representing 140 institutions.
Organised every two years, the AWF gathers representatives from zoos and aquariums, welfare organisations, and academic institutions for a programme of workshops and presentations aimed at advancing an evidence-based approach to animal welfare.
This edition was no exception, and discussions focused on moving theory into practice. Early sessions explored operational welfare strategies, implementation challenges, standardised welfare assessment protocols, and EAZA welfare requirements. Together, these talks showed how crucial it is to monitor welfare in a structured way, include staff in the process, collaborate across disciplines, and provide managerial support and training.
The agenda included a strong lineup of keynote speakers:
- Françoise Wemelsfelder, biologist and Professor at Scotland's Rural College delivered a presentation on Qualitative Behaviour Assessment, a methodology that helps describe and measure emotional components of animal behaviour, while emphasising the importance of assessing the complete individual, rather than isolated indicators.
- Daan Laméris, behavioural biologist at Indiana University Bloomington (USA) and Antwerp Zoo, explored the assessment of cognitive and affective states in great apes (orangutans and gorillas), encouraging participants to consider not only behaviour and physiology, but also how animals may experience and interpret their environment.
- Jason Watters, Executive Editor Emeritus of Zoo Biology, engaged attendees with practical approaches to zoo animal welfare, highlighting how cognition and individual differences are becoming increasingly relevant to welfare assessment and decision-making.
To better understand how this looks in the field, we also hosted an EAZA Academy workshop on Quality of Life Assessment, where 35 participants explored animal welfare evaluation in depth.
The course was led by tutors Lisa Clifforde, Animal Welfare Officer at Zoological Society of London; Holly Farmer, Chair of the EAZA Animal Welfare Working Group; Sarah Richdon, Head of Field Conservation, Animal Welfare and Higher Education at Bristol Zoo; and facilitated by Marina Salas, Postdoctoral Researcher and Animal Welfare Research Coordinator at Antwerp Zoo.
Alongside lectures and hands-on learning, it included an experiential activity that allowed participants to step into the animals’ shoes and understand how injury, illness, or environmental factors can impact them. Overall, participants took away learnings on evidence-based tools to assess and enhance an animal's quality of life, from spotting subtle signs of compromised welfare to designing monitoring strategies and intervention plans.
The forum also showcased the extension of animal welfare practice today, with sessions covering nutrition, digital welfare monitoring, AI-assisted tools, enclosure design, and many more topics. Moreover, the different case studies highlighted how science continues to evolve, and why combining evidence, careful observation, and being able to adapt is key to progress.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper EAZA event without the many opportunities for exchange and networking provided by the ice breaker, poster session with drinks, farewell dinner and the visits of Antwerp and Planckendael Zoos.
Big thanks to Antwerp Zoo for hosting this year's forum, and to everyone who helped make it a success.
We look forward to seeing you in our next edition! In the meantime, explore the upcoming EAZA events, and catch up with our past animal welfare webinars.
Header picture belongs to Antwerp Zoo, the rest to EAZA.
Blog post by Camila Farah, 2 April 2026