Utility of social network analysis for primate behavioral management and well-being
New management strategies for detecting social instabilities and promoting social cohesion are needed to reduce aggression based morbidity and mortality among captive groups of rhesus macaques. This study was conducted to determine the utility of social network analysis for deciphering patterns of aggression and wounding in rhesus macaques. Over 37,000 observations of affiliative, submissive and […]
Environmental influences on the expression of aggressive behaviour in English Cocker Spaniels
A group of ‘low’ (n = 217) and ‘high’ (n = 218) aggression purebred English Cocker Spaniels were compared in relation to demographics and owner interactions. Owners of ‘low’ aggression dogs were more likely to be: older (65 years +; χ2 = 18.753, P < 0.01) and more attached to their dogs (U = 20346, […]
Human-animal relationships in the Norwegian dairy goat industry: attitudes and empathy towards goats (Part I)
The quality of human-animal relationships in the livestock industries has been increasingly recognised as an important determinant of animal welfare. Attitudes and empathy are multi-dimensional traits that may be associated with the stockpersons’ behaviour. The aim of this study was to determine the dimensionality of the goat-oriented attitudes and empathy of stockpeople in the Norwegian […]
Evaluation of Demographics and Social Life Events of Asian (Elephas maximus) and African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) in North American Zoos
This study quantified social life events hypothesized to affect the welfare of zoo African and Asian elephants, focusing on animals that were part of a large multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional elephant welfare study in North America. Age was calculated based on recorded birth dates and an age-based account of life event data for each elephant was compiled. […]
Public attitudes toward animals and the influential factors in contemporary China
The relationship between public attitudes toward animals and human demographics has been well documented during the last few decades, but the influence of human ethical ideologies on public attitudes toward animals and animal welfare has been rarely investigated, especially in developing countries, such as China. The present study introduced two scales (Animal Issue Scale [AIS] […]