Captive Animals

Welfare of Animals in Zoos — Five Domains

The Five Domains Model provides a comprehensive framework for assessing zoo animal welfare across nutrition, environment, health, behavior, and mental state.

Key Facts

The Five Domains Model was developed by David Mellor to capture positive as well as negative welfare
Behavioral domain assessment requires species-specific behavioral repertoire knowledge
Mental state is the integrated outcome of all four physical/functional domains
The model enables more complete welfare assessment than the Five Freedoms alone

Welfare Considerations

Traditional welfare assessment based on Five Freedoms focused on absence of suffering. The Five Domains Model extends this to require positive welfare experiences in each domain. Zoo animals assessed under Five Domains can be evaluated for behavioral diversity, cognitive engagement, positive social experiences, and other positive welfare indicators. This enables comprehensive welfare improvement planning beyond basic needs provision.

What You Can Do

Support zoos that use the Five Domains Model for welfare assessment
Advocate for comprehensive welfare frameworks in zoo accreditation standards
Learn about the Five Domains to evaluate welfare programs more effectively
Donate to welfare science applied to zoo animal populations