Responses of farmed silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) to excessive food availability: Implications for using food as a yardstick resource in motivation tests
Food is frequently used as a ‘yardstick’ in operant experiments. However, previous work on silver foxes had suggested that how food is presented can affect how they respond to it, with excess food leading to variable consumption rates, and cages containing food being avoided over control cages except while eating. Our first experiment therefore examined […]
Consistency of individual variation in feeding behaviour and its relationship with performance traits in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus
Feed intake is commonly used as one of the most important performance indicators in fish. However, very little is known about the behavioural processes involved in ingesting food such as meal duration, feeding frequency and latency to start eating. This study aims at the characterization of feeding behaviour in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in terms […]
Unlearned appetite controls: Watersnakes (Nerodia) take smaller meals when they have the choice
Studies of appetite in mammals emphasize that meal size is learned, but lactation and parental care constrain testing of naive individuals. Neonatal reptiles, in contrast, are self-sufficient foragers. The authors examined the effect of prey size on meal size in primivorous (at first feeding) northern watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon). When offered an excess of small prey […]
A SCORING SYSTEM TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKING AND OUTCOMES IN THE ADAPTATION OF RECENTLY CAPTURED WHITE RHINOCEROSES (CERATOTHERIUM SIMUM) TO CAPTIVITY
Ninety-four subadult and adult white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) were captured between February and October, 2009-11, in Kruger National Park and placed in holding bomas prior to translocation to other locations within South Africa. A simple three-category system was developed based on appetite, fecal consistency/volume, and behavior to assess adaptation to bomas. Individual animal and group […]