Professor John T. Hancock, who lives in Nailsea and works at the University of the West of England (UWE), has just had a second book about animal behaviour published by CRC Press (Taylor and Francis).

His first book, Why Elephants Cry, explored how animals respond to environmental conditions, and can therefore be used to predict the weather or forewarn of an earthquake. This was published by CRC Press in May 2023.

On the back of the publication of his first book with CRC Press, Hancock joined forces with Ros Rouse (UWE Research Governance) and Dr Tim J. Craig (Associate Professor of Neuroscience, UWE), to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on animals and their welfare.

The book explores if it is possible to predict which animals are susceptible to the virus and then which animals were reported to be virus positive, along with how some animals were vaccinated against COVID-19.

It further looks at the impact of the pandemic on zoos and conservation sites, and what the impact of discarded PPE might have been.

Looking to the future, Hancock and colleagues tender some advice for when the next epidemic/pandemic hits.

Animal Welfare in a Pandemic: What Does COVID-19 Tell us for the Future? was published by CRC Press on 29th April 2024.