Captive animal welfare

Investigations

Our first step to change is shining a light on hidden cruelty. Animals Asia conducts in-depth investigations into zoos, safari parks and circuses across Asia. We identify welfare violations, document the evidence, and report our findings to both facility managers and government authorities. These reports often spark crucial policy reviews and enforcement actions.

In some cases, we work directly with facilities to support welfare improvements. This collaborative approach has led to real victories. After years of engagement with Hanoi Central Circus, they agreed to stop using wild animals in performances, and their remaining bears now live safely at our sanctuary in Tam Dao, Vietnam.

Our investigations also played a key role in a 2010 directive banning wild animal performances in Chinese zoos – a huge milestone, though enforcement remains a challenge.

These investigations are the first step in transforming places of despair into spaces of progress, ensuring that animals are no longer seen as commodities or props, but as sentient beings deserving respect.

Training vets and animal carers

We believe that lasting change begins with education. That’s why we deliver practical, hands-on training to veterinary professionals and animal carers at zoos, wildlife facilities and government rescue centres. Our workshops cover everything from behavioural observation and enrichment (toys, treats and natural browse) to enclosure design and disease prevention.

Through long-term partnerships with governments and organisations like the China Association of Zoological Gardens, we help carers understand not just how to keep animals alive – but how to help them thrive. We also help animal managers to implement improvements in husbandry, record keeping and emergency response.

By equipping local professionals with the knowledge and tools they need, we’re building a sustainable model of care that reaches tens of thousands of animals across the region. Every small improvement – a cleaner enclosure, a more varied diet, a toy to offer stimulation – represents a shift towards compassion.

Public awareness

Empathy is one of the most powerful drivers of change. Through school talks, university lectures, social media, and creative public campaigns, we’re inspiring the next generation to see animals differently – not as spectacles, but as sentient individuals.

We run engaging workshops for students, highlighting the emotional and cognitive capacities of animals. We use cartoons, videos and billboards to challenge harmful norms and celebrate compassion. In a region where many people have never encountered the concept of animal welfare, this work is vital.

And public attitudes are shifting. When people understand that animals feel pain, fear and joy, they start to question the industries that profit from their suffering. Our outreach helps to nurture that shift – planting seeds of kindness that grow into action.

Government and policy

Policy change is essential to protecting animals at scale. That’s why we work closely with lawmakers, civil servants and enforcement agencies to strengthen animal welfare legislation and ensure it’s upheld.

From helping draft welfare guidelines to training captive animal managers, we take a collaborative, solutions-based approach. Our credibility and long-standing presence in the region allow us to join conversations that few others can access.

It was our policy work that helped secure the release of four performing bears from Hanoi Central Circus and shaped the 2010 ban on animal performances in China. These wins are only possible through patient, respectful engagement – and they show that even the most entrenched systems can be transformed when we work together.

Working with welfare groups

Collaboration is key to change. Animals Asia supports a growing network of local and regional groups that share our values and vision for animal protection. We offer training, funding and technical advice to help them grow and succeed.

In Indonesia, we partner with organisations like FLIGHT, which rescues and releases trafficked songbirds; the Scorpion Foundation, whose macaque rescue centre opened in 2022 with our support; and Jakarta Animal Aid Network, which rescues and releases rehabilitated macaques into safe island habitats. 

In Vietnam, we run the country’s first ethical elephant tourism project at Yok Don National Park, where former working elephants now roam the forest in peace and visitors watch them from a safe, respectful distance.

Together, we’re proving that tourism, conservation and kindness can co-exist. By supporting others to create change in their own communities, we ensure that our impact is multiplied and that compassion continues to grow into the future.