MONA Foundation shares its experience in monitoring animal welfare at the EARS General Meeting in Kosovo
Once again, Fundació MONA was present at the EARS General Partner Meeting 2024, held at the iconic Bear Sanctuary in Prishtina, Kosovo. This sanctuary, managed by the international organization FOUR PAWS, is a specialized refuge for brown bears rescued from abuse, providing a rehabilitation environment designed to restore their well-being.
The meeting at the Bear Sanctuary in Prishtina offered a space for collaboration and learning, where participants shared knowledge, achievements, experiences, case updates and and the current situation of confiscations of animals that will end up for life in rescue and rehabilitation centres.
Observing and understanding animals continuously and non-invasively to improve their well-being
At this meeting, which brought together professionals from sanctuaries and rescue centres from all over Europe, Dietmar Crailsheim, head of MONA’s Research Department, presented how to set up a good data collection system that is easy to use, helps the staff of the centres and aims to ensure that the animals can thrive, despite having been rescued from traumatic situations.
To this end, different tools have been introduced and in particular the use of the Zoomonitor data collection system. This application developed by Lincoln Park Zoo, is designed to collect behavioural data using tablets and facilitates exhaustive monitoring of the animals’ behaviour and health, making it possible to personalise rehabilitation strategies according to individual needs. It is ultimately a very useful resource in the field of behavioural monitoring.
Within the collaborative framework provided by EARS, MONA presented Zoomonitor as a community-driven initiative with the following objectives:
- Encouraging mutual support between organizations with experience in animal monitoring and those new to it, fostering a network of continuous learning and cooperation.
- Enhancing the impact of monitoring through data sharing and the creation of a collective repository, where shared information can benefit sanctuaries and rescue centres across Europe, multiplying the value of data beyond individual use.
Through this collaboration, Fundació MONA and EARS are leveraging years of accumulated experience to open new doors in the care and monitoring of animals in captivity, achieving a positive impact on their well-being and promoting respect and understanding for them.
This edition of the EARS annual meeting concludes with new collaborative projects to continue working together to improve the lives of animals living in captivity in Europe.
