Note that most resources in the AZA Animal Wellbeing Resource Center are available for anyone to view, but there are several that require a member login. These restricted resources are indicated in their description, and are only available to Professional Affiliates, Professional Associates, and Professional Fellow. If you need a particular resource that is unavailable due to your membership level, please contact animalwellbeing@aza.org to submit a request for consideration.
External websites referenced herein are for educational reference only. These are not endorsed by AZA and unless expressly stated otherwise do not represent AZA policy or recommendations to its members. AZA is not responsible for the content, in whole or in part, on external websites.
Text that appears in bold orange indicates a link to additional material.
What's New in Animal Wellbeing? See the latest resources posted to the AZA Animal Wellbeing Resource Center
The Animal Wellbeing Communications Toolkit includes a FAQs and talking points document about AZA's Wellbeing Strategy, and a PowerPoint presentation to aid member facilities with sharing information with their staff and promote discussion about the guiding principles that underlie AZA's animal wellbeing culture.
Animal Care Manuals contains information about Animal Care Manuals, including the current template, details on the publishing process, and access to published Animal Care Manuals.
Ambassador Animal Guidelines is a compilation of knowledge from recognized animal and education experts based on the current science, practices, and technology of ambassador animal management and presentation. Each set of Ambassador Animal Guidelines assembles basic requirements, best practices, and animal care recommendations to maximize capacity for excellence in animal care and the welfare of ambassador species.
AZA Community Groups Developing Animal Wellbeing Resources provides information about groups of AZA members (Committees, Scientific Advisory Groups, and AZA Centers) that have been working to enhance animal lives by creating and distributing tools and resources that support wellbeing.
Animal Wellbeing Staff Training and Education contains information about animal wellbeing webinars, courses, and programs with free training, education databases, and resources allowing anyone to access general information about staff training and education.
Welfare Programs offer guidelines and documentation to implement a welfare program.
Welfare Assessments contains guides to creating and developing an animal welfare assessment process, including sample documentation, an assessment tool database, and more.
Veterinary Care and Nutrition resources for maintaining and improving animal health through veterinary care and nutrition.
Behavior, Enrichment, and Training provides resources for behavioral husbandry, enrichment, and animal training, including elements of creating enrichment plans and animal observation example documents.
Social and Reproductive Considerations information regarding the reproductive aspects of animal wellbeing, with resources for contraceptive decisions, fertility assessments, and endocrine analyses.
Ambassador Animals contains AZA’s policies related to ambassador animals and provides resources about animal handling and handling training protocols for staff/volunteers as well as other resources for implementing an effective ambassador animal program that maintains a high level of animal wellbeing.
Collection Planning provides resources that take animal wellbeing into account when establishing an Institutional Collection Plan, planning an ambassador animal collection, creating and sharing collection records, and conducting animal transactions.
Habitat Safety and Maintenance contains resources to adhere to, maintain, and provide safe habitats, proper maintenance, and monitoring procedures.
Animal Wellbeing in Research and Fieldwork is a collection of example research and fieldwork policies, resource databases, and methodology for animal wellbeing-specific analysis and exploration.
Taxa-Specific Animal Wellbeing Resources provides animal wellbeing resources unique to specific categories of animals (e.g., aquatics, elephants, non-human primates, etc.).
Connect Features on Animal Wellbeing Topics is a compilation of articles (2021 to present) from AZA’s Connect magazine and website that discuss animal wellbeing.
AZA Policies That Impact Animal Wellbeing is a compilation of AZA’s policies, position statements, and white papers for varying issues that affect animal wellbeing.