Warming a cold shoulder: Animal ethics, sentience, and preferences for human interaction in zoo-housed non-avian reptiles

Abstract

Animal welfare science has functionally only existed for a little over 50 years. The last three to four decades in particular have seen a relative boom in the rate of expansion, understanding and attention that this discipline has received. Whilst the foundations of animal welfare science mainly focused on identifying and removing negative welfare states in captive animals, modern scientific inquiry is now starting to understand and approach positive welfare states as a crucial part of any sentient being’s experience of life as well. Positive welfare states may include many elements, such as an animal being fit and healthy, experiencing positive moods and affects, and being able to express n..