BIAZA globally recognised for animal welfare

BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, has been recognised for reaching a global animal welfare target. WAZA (the World Association of Zoos and Aquarium) wrote to BIAZA last week to confirm the association had officially met the WAZA Animal Welfare Goal.  

What does that mean? The Goal sets out global principles for animal welfare evaluation processes to ensure zoos and aquariums across the world are meeting high standards for animal welfare.  

The review of BIAZA’s animal welfare evaluation process has involved a peer-review by several experts from around the world. The result of this process has confirmed that BIAZA’s meets the requirements and has, therefore, achieved the WAZA 2023 Animal Welfare Goal. 

This recognition comes from years of work put in by the BIAZA Executive Office, the Animal Welfare Working Group and the Committees into building and implementing a world class accreditation system. This system, which has already started screening BIAZA’s 122 members, will support BIAZA members in demonstrating the high standards they already meet and help drive continuous improvements in animal care, conservation, education and research.  

Dr Jo Judge, BIAZA CEO, said: “We are extremely proud that BIAZA’s animal welfare policy and accreditation processes have been peer reviewed by experts from across the world and I am delighted that WAZA has confirmed our welfare requirements are consistent with their global animal welfare principles. This reflects work that has gone into developing robust welfare assessment requirements for zoos and aquariums in the UK and Ireland and our commitment to continuous improvements.” 

Dr Martín Zordan, WAZA CEO, said: “We are very pleased to recognise BIAZA and the excellent work of the association in promoting high standards for animal welfare across zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland. BIAZA now joins 8 other WAZA member associations that have met the WAZA 2023 Animal Welfare Goal as we endeavour to improve the quality of care provided to animals in our member institutions.”