How zoos use ambassador animals for education and what welfare standards should govern their use in programmes.
Ambassador animal welfare occupies a complex position - there is genuine welfare value in enrichment from novel stimulation and positive training interactions, and genuine welfare risk from repeated handling and public-facing stress. The welfare distinction between acceptable and unacceptable ambassador use lies primarily in animal choice: animals trained through positive reinforcement to participate voluntarily, who can decline participation and who show no signs of chronic stress, are in a very different welfare situation from animals restrained or habituated through forced exposure. The educational value of ambassador programmes is real and significant but cannot justify welfare compromise in the animals that create it.