Leveraging exceptional animal care and welfare experience to improve the handling of sharks and rays in research, conservation, fishing, and husbandry scenarios
With input and guidance from the global community of public aquarium and zoo professionals and elasmobranch field biologists and researchers, the AZA SAFE Shark and Ray Program’s Best Practices for Elasmobranch Handling Events project has created an open access tool to support safe and efficient animal handling events that occur in situ or ex situ. The Best Practices for Handling Elasmobranchs App encourages users to consider safety and welfare when planning and executing elasmobranch handling events for research, conservation, husbandry, or recreational and commercial fishing scenarios.
Bookmark this web address for easy access to the app in the future: handling.safesharks.org
The Best Practices Working Group wishes to acknowledge the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Conservation Technologies and Media Services Divisions for providing the technology and digital platform expertise needed to make the App possible. The App is an open access tool to be used by elasmobranch handlers to guide the process of establishing handling protocols for animal welfare and wellbeing, and animal and human safety, that best fits the facility/environment, scenario, staffing, sampling needs, and species to be handled.