Predictors of psychological stress and behavioural diversity among captive red panda in Indian zoos and their implications for global captive management
At high elevations, biodiversity is at elevated risk from extinctions due to rapid environmental changes. In the most of its range in Himalayas, the red panda, an endangered species, is struggling to survive in the wild, and a global captive breeding programme has been launched to conserve the species. Because captivity can have negative impacts […]
Goal-oriented behavioural and environmental enrichment in aquarium species
Environmental enrichment is a common tool used in zoo and aquarium settings to provide mental and physical stimulation to animals under human care. This paper aims to present a primary approach to goal-oriented environmental and behavioural enrichment following a simplified version of the SPIDER method for a diverse range of aquarium-housed species. The aim of […]
Behavioural Diversity Study in Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Groups and Its Implications for Welfare Assessments
In the recent past, animal welfare studies have tried to determine the best animal welfare measures and indicators. Expression of behavioural diversity is considered a potential positive welfare indicator, and to the authors’ knowledge, it has not been validated nor studied in cetaceans. For the first time, a behavioural diversity study on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops […]
Technical Contribution: A Cautionary Note on the Use of Behavioural Diversity (H-Index) in Animal Welfare Science
Animal welfare scientists actively seek reliable and practical metrics that can serve as indicators of animal welfare for use with agricultural, laboratory and zoo-housed animals. Behavioural diversity as a welfare concept originated from early welfare scientists linking poor animal welfare with a high proportion of time spent engaged in stereotyped behaviours and little expression of […]
Feeding enrichment in an opportunistic carnivore: The red fox
In captive carnivores, species-specific behaviour is often restricted by inadequate feeding regimens. Feeding live prey is not feasible in most places and food delivery is often highly predictable in space and time which is considerably different from the situation in the wild. As a result, captive carnivores are often inactive, show little behavioural diversity and […]
Relationship between behavioural diversity and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites: a case study with cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)
The ability to monitor the welfare of animal collections in zoological institutions is critical to the mission of these facilities. Historically, zoos have utilised negative indicators of welfare, such as stereotypic behaviour to examine and monitor collection animals. However, absence of stereotypic behaviour or negative indicators of welfare does not indicate that an animal is […]