Animal Welfare | ASP

The São Paulo Aquarium is committed to maintaining a high standard of welfare for all the animals in its care. Our institution’s vision is closely aligned with conservation, education, and research, enabling us to provide the means to ensure animal welfare.

A multidisciplinary team of oceanographers, veterinarians, and biologists oversees the care of animals at the São Paulo Aquarium. Today, more than 40 professionals are involved in environmental education, animal management, and welfare.

This team is constantly focused on the welfare of the animals under its care. Therefore, research is conducted to identify optimal conditions for the species’ maintenance, ensuring their physical and psychological welfare.

In addition to regular routines like parameter monitoring, feeding, and habitat cleaning, additional activities are carried out to assess each animal’s specific needs, including daily behavior records and observational studies. Based on this data, the multidisciplinary team meets to develop strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of life for each animal.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT

Environmental enrichment is a management principle that improves the quality of life for animals in artificial environments by identifying and providing stimuli that allow the expression of natural physical and psychological activities. This approach enhances the animal's welfare by enabling a broader expression of its natural behavioral repertoire. This results in an improved quality of life and higher welfare standards. Enrichment is crucial because introducing novelties into the environment (whether dietary, structural, sensory, social, or cognitive) stimulates the animals, reduces unnatural behaviors, and reduces stress. This principle involves various original, creative, and ingenious techniques to keep environments consistently nurturing. It has become an increasingly common practice in zoos and aquariums worldwide, aiming to improve the living conditions of animals.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

In addition to the environmental enrichment program, some animals participate in operant conditioning routines using positive reinforcement. Conditioning is a learning process. It's a mechanism where a specific response is rewarded. For example: we ask the animal to step on a scale. If the animal performs the action, it receives a reward. If it does not, there are no consequences; the animal simply does not receive the reward (the animal is never punished for not complying). This technique is primarily applied to animal management, particularly in veterinary care. It is used as a stress "reducer" during procedures such as receiving medication or allowing injections, for biometrics (it can be weighed or measured), and allowing body parts to be examined, among others. These procedures can be performed without restraining the animals, which can potentially cause them significant stress. Come and see the results of our work! Check out some photos of environmental enrichment activities:

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