What’s on : Cafe-scientifique

Faeces, hair and spit – how we measure the welfare of our wildlife and other animals

Cafe-scientifique
Date
1 Mar 2017
Start time
7:30 PM
Venue
City Screen Basement Bar
Speaker
Dr Julie Lane APHA
Faeces, hair and spit - how we measure the welfare of our wildlife and other animals

Event Information

Wednesday March 1st – doors open 7pm for 7.30pm start

Dr Julie Lane APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency)

“Faeces, hair and spit – how we measure the welfare of our wildlife and other animals”

Man and wild animals have to co-exist and share resources which can often lead to conflict. One of our roles is to try and balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people – not always an easy or straightforward task. One of the main problems in doing this is determining the impact of a management technique on an individual or a population as a whole. Are ‘humane’ live mouse traps really that humane? What are the consequences to the individuals of re-locating hedgehogs?
For well over half a century clinicians and research scientists have measured hormones in the blood as indicators of health and wellbeing but attempting take these samples from a wild boar or a wood mouse, causes many difficulties for different reasons.
To try and solve this issue we have developed, over a number of years, novel methods for determining stress and other welfare indicators (such as reproduction) in animals. These were originally developed for monitoring our UK wildlife but we have also used these technologies to determine welfare of other animals we regularly interact with including farm and zoo species.
In this lecture I will talk about the trials and tribulations of attempting to use these tests in real world situations from performing parrots to reluctant rabbits and timid tamarins. You will hear about the successes and the ones that got away…
Hope you can join us as we explore the joys of faeces, hair and spit!

Tickets are free and can be pre-booked by phone or on-line with City Screen (0871 902 5726)

Alternatively tickets are available on the night of the event at the City Screen Ticket Desk.

70 tickets only available for this event