Animal-Staff Interactions

Research on human–animal interactions has focused predominantly on the visitor–animal domain with little attention given to staff and the impacts that these work-based interactions have on both the animals and people involved. Some staff (keepers, veterinarians) will probably interact regularly with animals; other staff roles, such as curators, animal welfare scientists and nutritionists, might not interact with animals as much but will still influence their behaviour and lives through population management decisions, housing and husbandry design, and by influencing operational measures taken daily to manage the zoo and the animals. This chapter will discuss the impacts of the various staff and their interactions with animals, but will also bring into context a newer area of research – the impacts of animals on staff. In addition, we will present where to go next with this research. As the chapter makes clear, there are still many knowledge gaps to fill.