EAZA Animal Welfare Webinar – Yedra Feltrer – Reproductive Management & Animal Welfare

Yedra Feltrer is a Veterinarian and the Vice Chair of the EAZA Reproductive Management Group. Breeding programmes in human care are an important component of the conservation mission of zoos. Their aim is to form viable populations that can benefit in-situ conservation efforts. One of the main goals of zoos is to maintain healthy, sustainable breeding populations. In order to achieve this without negatively impacting the welfare of the animals under our care, we need to have a holistic approach and make sure our animals are fit for breeding. This is the main goal of reproductive management. Reproductive management in zoos is about breeding and limit breeding. There are many tools in the box of reproductive management and the way we apply and use them, if not carefully considered, may have an impact on the animals under our care. This talk is an overview of reproductive management and of the main things we need to consider to evaluate the potential welfare impact (positive and/or negative) that fulfilling the requirements of our breeding programmes may pose, and how a holistic and collaborative approach to reproductive management can help us to achieve this.