Species-specific welfare questionnaires,
in your pocket
- 100+ species
- Published protocol
- Available offline
The species questionnaire, a complete welfare assessment
Assessing an animal's welfare means examining both its environment and the animal itself: its enclosure, its feeding, its health and its behaviour. For results to be comparable from one observer and one campaign to the next, everyone must answer the same questions, in the same way.
Animal Welfare Monitor offers questionnaires adapted to more than 100 species, designed by Akongo's scientific team. They transpose the Welfare Quality® method to zoo species, following a protocol described in a scientific publication (Romain et al., 2026). The assessor answers them in the field, on a phone or tablet.
The questionnaire goes further than the rapid assessment, a first, non-specific step used to prioritise efforts. Repeated from one campaign to the next, it lets you follow how welfare changes over time.
One questionnaire per species, in four categories
Each questionnaire reviews the four welfare categories, with factual, descriptive questions:
- Housing — the enclosure, the space and the furnishings.
- Feeding — the diet, its diversity and access to water and food.
- Health — clinical condition, veterinary monitoring and prevention.
- Behaviour — the behavioural repertoire, social interactions and stereotypies.
Four categories, questions adapted to the species
Data collection
Filling in a questionnaire in the field, individual by individual
Questionnaires are filled in as part of a data collection campaign, prepared on the web with the species questionnaire and the enclosures and individuals concerned. In the field, Animal Welfare Monitor guides each step:
- Enclosure zones — when the enclosure has several, select those the animal has access to over 24 hours (e.g. night house and outdoor enclosure), and the questions offered adapt to this selection.
- Questions common to the enclosure — some questions on housing, feeding and behaviour apply to all the individuals in the enclosure; if the same configuration has already been assessed in the campaign, you can go straight to the questions specific to the individual.
- Built-in help — questions that need it come with a help text and reference images, which can be enlarged to full screen.
- Resume later — a questionnaire takes 20 to 45 minutes; if you interrupt it, your progress is saved.
- Offline — the campaign is downloaded to the device: the questionnaire can be filled in without a network, and the answers are sent immediately or once the connection is back.
- Final comment — a free-text field lets you pass on context to Akongo's ethologists or report an anomaly to them.
To prepare a campaign, each questionnaire can also be viewed from the app's Resources, with its help, without recording any answers.
Analysis
Reading the results on the web
Once synchronised, the answers are analysed in the web version, by enclosure or by individual:
- Overall score and trend — a score out of 100 for each completed questionnaire, and how it changes from one campaign to the next.
- Radar chart by category — housing, feeding, health and behaviour, to spot points requiring attention at a glance.
- Detailed scores — the sub-categories of each category (e.g. thermal comfort, food presentation, preventive monitoring).
- Comparison — two questionnaires or two periods side by side (e.g. before and after a new enrichment is installed).
- Consistency between observers — when several people assess the same enclosure or the same individual, their scores are compared (number of assessments, mean, minimum and maximum for each), to harmonise the way they answer.
Results can be exported for your reviews and reports.
What species questionnaires change for your park
A complete assessment
The four welfare categories, with questions adapted to the species assessed.
Comparable results
For a given species, the same questionnaire from one observer, one campaign and one facility to the next.
Designed for the field
Guided data entry on a phone or tablet, with illustrated help, even without a network.
International collaboration
Multilingual questionnaires, so that teams from several countries work with the same tool.
Monitoring over time
By repeating campaigns, you follow how the scores change, category by category.
Based on science
A published protocol, designed by Akongo's scientific team from the Welfare Quality® method, with indicators drawn from the scientific literature and feedback from professionals.
Connected modules
The questionnaires rely on and complement other Animal Welfare Monitor features, in the field and on the web.
- Rapid assessmentA short, non-specific first step used to prioritise efforts before the species questionnaire.Explore module
- Focal samplingIn the same campaign, focal observations show what each individual actually does.Explore module
- Scan samplingScan sampling records, at regular intervals, the activity and position of all the individuals in a group.Explore module
- Species assessmentOn the web, questionnaire results can be read enclosure by enclosure and over time.Explore module
Assess your species' welfare, from the field
Scientific reference — Romain, A., Briard, L., Leroutier, G., Parker, M., Chenet, B., Wagner, C., Petry, A., & Quintard, B. (2026). Animal Welfare Monitor: Raising the bar for species-specific welfare evaluation using Welfare Quality® principles. Animals, 16(5), 842. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/16/5/842
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