Increase in environmental temperature affects exploratory behaviour, anxiety and social preference in Danio rerio
The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of a temperature increase on the behaviour of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) maintained for 21 days at 34 °C (treatment) and 26 °C (control). The temperatures chosen are within the vital range of zebrafish and correspond to temperatures that this species encounters in the natural environment. Previous […]
Does the location of enrichment material affect behavior and dirtiness in growing female pigs?
The objective of this study was to investigate if female growing pigs spend similar amounts of time exploring a wooden stick as they do exploring enrichment material regardless of its proximity to the feeder. Forty-eight pigs aged 18 to 26 weeks allocated to 16 pens with three pigs per pen were studied. Fifty percent of the […]
Exploratory and antipredator behaviours differ between territorial and nonterritorial male lizards
Alternative territorial tactics may be part of a broader behavioural tendency that can influence the expression of other behavioural traits.We compared the exploratory and predator avoidance behaviours of territorial and floater male water skinks, Eulamprus heatwolei, to identify whether these alternative behavioural tactics are part of a broader behavioural dichotomy. Floater and territorial males differed […]
An ethological definition of animal welfare with special emphasis on pig behaviour
none
Behavioral and adrenocortical responses to environmental changes in leopard cats (Felis bengalensis)
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430120403.abs Indicators of environmental adequacy relevant to the well-being of small felids are developed by examining, in 4 captive leopard cats, interrelationships between behavioral and adrenocortical responses to changes in housing conditions. Singly housed cats were moved from their barren home cage (Cage 1, baseline) sequentially to 2 new, barren housing situations (Cages 2 […]
Enriched sensory experience in adulthood increases subsequent exploratory behaviour in the rat
Hooded rats were reared under identical conditions until 3 months old. They were then exposed for 5 weeks to either a sensorily enriched or an impoverished environment. Each subject was then observed for 15 min in a novel Y-maze. Animals exposed to the enriched environment showed the strongest exploration tendency, particularly early in the trial. […]
Exploratory activity as a measure of motivation in deprived hens
It is not easy to assess an animal’s motivational state during a period of deprivation caused by a lack of external stimulation. The extent to which the behaviour of hens, Gallus gallus domesticus, in a circular tunnel attached to a test pen may be exploratory and, hence, may measure their motivational state during periods of […]
Age and weight at weaning affect corticosterone level and development of stereotypies in ICR-mice
Artificial weaning in laboratory mice elicits increased levels of exploratory and escape behaviour. Under barren housing conditions patterns of exploration and escape subsequently develop into stereotypic behaviour. Weaning weight in wild house mice,Mus musculus domesticus, is known to affect offspring fitness, thus reduced weaning weight represents a risk to fitness. In male ICR-mice,Mus musculus, precocious […]
The practical problems of recognizing and measuring fear and exploration behaviour in the domestic fowl
In studying behaviour supposedly motivated by fear or by exploration, consideration should be given to the biological functions of these two systems and to the ways in which the experimental environment may affect the performance of `natural’ responses. Extreme caution is needed in comparing the effectiveness of different stimuli and the amounts of fear or […]
Effects of spatial food distribution on search behavior in rats (Rattus norvegicus)
To analyze how search strategies are adapted according to the geometric distribution of food sources, the authors submitted rats to a search task in which they had to explore 9 food trays in an open field and avoid visiting already-depleted trays. Trays were spatially arranged in 4 independent configurations: a cross, a 3 × 3 […]