A Reexamination of the Relationship between Training Practices and Welfare in the Management of Ambassador Animals
There is an ethical need to document and develop best practices for meeting ambassador animals’ welfare needs within the context of meeting zoo and aquarium program objectives. This is because ambassador animals experience direct and frequent contact with humans. This paper rigorously synthesizes behavioral research and theory, contemporary practices, and personal experiences to offer key […]
Choice, control, and animal welfare: definitions and essential inquiries to advance animal welfare science
The ways in which humans can support good welfare for animals in their care is an ongoing subject of debate: some place emphasis on the animals’ physical health; others, on animals’ ability to live “natural lives”; and others on animals’ affective states or psychological wellbeing. Recently, there has been an increase in interest in how […]
The Four Cs of Psychological Wellbeing: Lessons from Three Decades of Computer-based Environmental Enrichment
Three decades ago, the Animal Welfare Act was amended to require researchers to provide environments that promoted the psychological, as well as the physical, wellbeing of nonhuman primates maintained for research purposes. We developed a computer-task paradigm with the goal of promoting and assessing the psychological wellbeing of rhesus monkeys. Some lessons learned in the […]
Environmental effects on the behavior of zoo-housed lions and tigers, with a case study of the effects of a visual barrier on pacing
Tigers and lions in the wild are nocturnal nonhuman animals who may hunt and mate opportunistically during daylight hours. In captivity, they spend most time on exhibit sleeping or pacing. To better understand their activity budget, this study examined the daily behavior patterns of 2 Sumatran tigers and 3 African lions in different housings. The […]
Is There Evidence of Learned Helplessness in Horses?
Learned helplessness is a psychological condition whereby individuals learn that they have no control over unpleasant or harmful conditions, that their actions are futile, and that they are helpless. In a series of experiments in which dogs were exposed to inescapable shocks, this lack of control subsequently interfered with the ability to learn an avoidance […]
Controllability in Environmental Enrichment for Captive Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
This study considers the use of nonsocial environmental enrichment by captive chimpanzees at the Primate Foundation of Arizona. The goal was to determine whether a relationship existed between controllability of enrichment items by captive chimpanzees and frequency of use. The study measured controllability, the ability of nonhuman animals to alter aspects of their environment by […]
Effects of predictability on the welfare of captive animals
Variations in the predictability of a stressor have pronounced effects on the behavioural and physiological effects of stress in rats. It is reasonable to expect that variations in the predictability of husbandry routines thought to be aversive to animals might have similar effects on stress indices. Similarly, variations in the predictability of positive events, of […]
Effects of Ratio Reinforcement Schedules on Choice Behavior
Choice behavior under a concurrent VR-FR schedule of reinforcement was investigated in two experiments to test a molar theory of maximization. Hunger-motivated albino rats pressed two bars, one on an FR10 and the other on a VR10 schedule, for a food reward. With the total number of experiences with each bar equated and interalternative switching […]
The assessment and implementation of animal welfare: theory into practice.
This paper reviews the procedures and protocols necessary for the development of a practical programme for the assessment and implementation of animal welfare on farms and in other commercial situations. An effective programme must incorporate measures of both husbandry and welfare. Most current systems are based almost entirely on measures of husbandry provision, e.g. resources […]
Enclosure choice and well-being in giant pandas: is it all about control?
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20064.abs Behavioral and hormonal data were compared for four giant pandas in two management conditions: (1) panda confined to exhibit area and (2) panda given choice to move freely between exhibit and off-exhibit bedroom areas. Pandas displayed fewer signs of behavioral agitation and lower urinary cortisol in the free choice condition. Time active did […]