Captive Coyotes Compared to Their Counterparts in the Wild: Does Environmental Enrichment Help?
This article attempts to determine the effects of environment (captive or wild) and a simple form of environmental enrichment on the behavior and physiology of a nonhuman animal. Specifically, analyses first compared behavioral budgets and stereotypic behavior of captive coyotes (Canis latrans) in kennels and pens to their counterparts in the wild. Second, experiments examined […]
Time course of changes in egg-shell quality, faecal corticosteroids and behaviour as welfare measures in laying hens
The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which three non-invasive measures of welfare in laying hens (egg-shell quality, corticosteroid levels as measured from the birds’ faeces and behavioural preferences) were correlated over a period of five days in two groups of birds. One group had access to an enriched test area […]
Effect of positive reinforcement training on physiological and behavioural stress responses in the hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas)
Behavioural and salivary cortisol responses were measured in hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) (n = 5) undergoing positive reinforcement training (PRT). Compliance was assessed by collecting behavioural data on desirable and undesirable responses during each training session (33-46 training sessions per male). Saliva was collected before implementation of the training programme (3-4 baseline samples per male) […]
Cross-institutional assessment of stress responses in zoo animals using longitudinal monitoring of faecal corticoids and behaviour
Cross-institutional studies that combine non-invasive physiological measures of stress responses and the assessment of individual differences in behaviour and temperament have great potential as tools for assessing the well-being of zoo animals and for identifying key environmental stimuli relevant to well-being. In addition, such studies allow comparison of animals under a wide variety of conditions […]
Glucocorticoid and androgen signaling pathways diverge between advertisement calling and non-calling fish
Behavioral and neuroendocrine mechanisms of social vocalization in teleost fish are influenced by the glucocorticoid cortisol and the androgen 11-ketotestosterone (11kT). The relative abundance of both 11kT, which binds to androgen receptors (ARα, ARβ), and cortisol, which binds to glucocorticoid receptors (GR-1, GR-2), is regulated by 11β-hydroxylase (11βH) that converts 11-deoxycortisol to cortisol and testosterone […]
The comparative biology of environmental stress: behavioural endocrinology and variation in ability to cope with novel, changing environments
Coping with perturbations of the environment such as severe storms and other climatic extremes, habitat degradation, changes in predator numbers, invasive species and social disruption is one of the most essential physiological and behavioural processes. The palaeontological record shows that organisms have had to cope with environmental perturbations throughout the history of life on Earth. […]