Blog by Sarah Bonser-Blake, Animal Welfare Field Manager at Wild Welfare
The earthy morning air was thick with the scent of dewy farmland grass, damp canvas tents, and the strong aroma of coffee drifting from nearby food trucks. You wouldn’t be amiss thinking this was the start of a bustling day at Glastonbury festival. However, this crowd has not gathered for bands and live music; instead they’re here for a unique shared learning experience to build skills and drive positive change for wild animals under their care. Keeperfest 2025 at Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park, is the chosen meeting point for a huge number of dedicated animal care professionals from across the UK and Europe. Over the two-day high-energy event I would deliver two practical animal welfare assessment workshops aimed at up-skilling participants, inspiring attendees to think about how they can positively affect the wellbeing of the animals under their care.
I was delighted to be invited back after my ‘Jurassic Park’ talk from the previous year’s Keeperfest which had clearly left an impression! One of the workshops was fully booked so there was an obvious appetite from attendees to learn more about the logistics involved in animal welfare assessments.
The session began by taking a deep dive into the foundations of animal welfare and how to create a robust and meaningful assessment system. For the first twenty minutes, we collectively discussed the critical difference between measuring animal welfare outputs (an animal’s response to the care they receive) and simply assessing animal care inputs (the tasks completed by staff).
Armed with clipboards and assessment sheets, groups split into smaller teams and headed out into the wildlife park to conduct a real-world assessment at the Barbary macaque enclosures. This practical experience was essential for building the confidence keepers need to integrate these skills into their daily routines. The macaque troops offered a compelling, real-time case study, presenting our participants with intriguing discussion points and opportunities to explore the limitations and scope of the welfare assessment tool.
After completing the assessments, we gathered the teams to compare our findings. We also talked about challenges such as how to successfully embed welfare assessments within already busy animal care schedules, and how to effectively implement management changes based on the assessment findings.
In addition to getting attendees comfortable with welfare assessments, I also wanted to dispel some common myths and misunderstandings, highlighting the strategic elements to the process. This in turn creates sustainable, impactful change for animals under human care, giving them opportunities to experience a better standard of welfare.
Although the primary role at Keeperfest was to deliver the workshops, I also made sure to embrace the spirit of learning myself! I spent some time at the ‘Team Building With Bite’ workshops, where I was able to further refine my practical skills in enrichment building and rope splicing. This sort of practical knowledge is always extremely useful when working to enhance an animal’s environment within a zoo, aquarium or rescue centre setting.
By Sunday, the challenging British weather had finally passed, bringing clear skies, allowing us to host our final workshop discussion in the glorious festival sunshine.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to the team at Jimmy’s Farm for their smooth coordination, and particularly to Sophie Dolden, a macaque keeper at the park, who attended both of my sessions where her specific knowledge and willingness to answer questions about the macaques was invaluable. And thanks to the wonderful participants for their time and dedication to furthering their professional development and knowledge, which is instrumental in continually improving welfare standards for the animals in their care.
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