Ostrich Farming in Germany – an Animal Welfare Issue?

Commercial farming of African ostriches in Germany continues to be a controversial subject with regard to the aspect of animal protection. Those against it mainly argue that the wet and chilly weather in our latitudes affects the animals’ welfare. According to them, artificial breeding results in impairment of the entire reproductive biology and, along with the fact that the young are not reared by the parent animals, has to be seen as an issue of animal welfare. Keywords: ratites,