Animal welfare at Skansen

All animals at Skansen live in an environment adapted to meet their needs and resemble their natural habitats. Our facilities meet or exceed all applicable legal requirements, such as protection against weather and wind, pests, and physical harm. Our animals can always retreat from visitors if they wish.

The animals at Skansen are cared for by trained staff with experience in caring for and ensuring the welfare of the animals. We have a zoologist and a veterinarian who work continuously with our staff and animals.

Only at the children’s zoo, Lill-Skansen’s, manned contact enclosure do our visitors get to pet animals. Otherwise, we do not offer petting or feeding. This is to prevent the animals from becoming stressed and to avoid the risk of spreading diseases to or from our animals.

The animals should not be bored or frustrated. Enrichment is an integral part of daily care and provides outlets for natural behaviors. Our enrichment work is based on how the animals live in the wild and can include scents, sounds, or new objects that the animal interacts with in its enclosure.

We train the animals, among other things, to facilitate care, minimize stress during veterinary examinations, and provide mental stimulation. It could be, for example, a seal coming ashore for examination, a bison standing on a scale to be weighed, or an owl voluntarily entering a transport box for relocation. An important aspect, which also makes our work safer, is training our bears to enter their den on a certain signal.

One of the strongest motivations for animals is to mate and have their own offspring. Therefore, it is important for us to provide them with this opportunity, as it is a natural part of the operation of zoos that brings great well-being to the animals. Our animals often live in pairs where reproduction is a significant part of their natural behavior.