Sabrina Brando is the Director of Animal Concepts and Jon Coe the Director of John Coe Design.
Non-public animal areas in zoos are often called “back of house” (henceforth BOH), also “off-display”, “bedrooms”, or “holding areas”. Progress has been made improving animal quality of life in larger, more naturalistic and enriched indoor areas. However, we observe that quality of life in the BOH areas has improved little in comparison and can result in animals being confined in less stimulating and enriching spaces for substantial periods of the 24-hour day.
This presentation "Confronting Back-of-House Traditions: Primates as a Case Study" gives an overview of our research in order to substantially improve animal welfare in BOH areas and concludes by suggesting a new integrated design model based not upon rote standards, and copying old models, but building rather on empirical foundations while embracing empathy and innovation.
