Using qualitative behavior assessment to investigate the effect of tourist presence on the welfare in captive tigers (Panthera tigris) in three tourism facilities in Thailand
Numerous facilities around the world offer tourists interactive experiences with captive tigers. Yet, the animal welfare implications of this practice have not been widely studied. This study aimed to investigate whether qualitative behavioral assessment (QBA) could: (i) provide a valid indicator of tiger’s emotional state and (ii) be applied to assess whether unfamiliar human presence […]
Recognising emotional expressions in captive bottlenose dolphins: Can lay observers agree using qualitative behavioural assessment?
This study applies qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) to bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus. Ten observers recruited through convenience sampling, who were unfamiliar with bottlenose dolphins and managed care of cetaceans, were instructed to use a Free Choice Profiling methodology to assess 20 video clips showing captive dolphins in a range of environmental and contextual settings. QBA […]
Using Qualitative Behaviour Assessment to Investigate Human-Animal Relationships in Zoo-Housed Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Human-Animal Relationships (HAR) in zoos develop from repeated interactions between animals and their caretakers. HAR have been shown to affect health and welfare in farm animals, but limited zoo-based studies exist. This study investigates the association between the qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) of emotional expression in giraffes and keeper action score in four types of […]
Pets: Behavior and Welfare Assessment
The current comprehensive view is that the welfare of pets can be accessed on the basis of three distinct but overlapping domains: health and physiological functioning (body), affective state (mind), and social functioning including normal development, behavior, and temperament (nature). Behavioral assessment is used to assess each of these domains. Behavior provides information about pets’ […]
The effect of perceived environmental background on qualitative assessments of pig behaviour
Qualitative behaviour assessment is an integrative methodology that characterizes behaviour as a dynamic, expressive body language (e.g. as anxious or content). Such assessments are sensitive to environmental context, which makes them informative but also vulnerable to observers’ biased views of that context. This study investigated whether and how perceived environmental background affects observers’ qualitative assessments […]
The spontaneous qualitative assessment of behavioural expressions in pigs: first explorations of a novel methodology for integrative animal welfare measurement
Qualitative assessments of behaviour integrate and summarize the different aspects of an animal’s dynamic style of interaction with the environment, using descriptors such as ‘timid’ or ‘confident’. Although such qualitative terms are widely used in the study of animal temperament and personality, their use in relation to questions of animal welfare has yet to be […]
Quantitative and qualitative assessment of the response of foals to the presence of an unfamiliar human
This work aimed to apply a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to the interpretation of an on-farm behaviour test for horses, and to examine whether 1 month of handling would affect the response of yearlings to an unfamiliar stationary human in their home environment. Throughout a 1-month period, 14 Thoroughbred Yearlings (16 ± 0.22 months […]
Qualitative assessment of social behaviour of dairy cows housed in loose housing systems
This study evaluates the qualitative assessment of dairy cows’ social behaviour on farm with regard to its inter- and intra-observer reliability and its correlation to quantitative ethogram-based assessment. Qualitative behaviour assessment is a method based upon the integration by observers of perceived animal behaviour expression, using descriptors such as ‘calm’, ‘aggressive’, ‘sociable’ or ‘indifferent’. Cows’ […]
Qualitative behaviour assessment of dairy buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)
This study applies qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) for the first time to dairy buffaloes, using three groups of observers with different cultural backgrounds and different levels of experience in animal behaviour observation and buffalo farming. Eight buffalo heifers aged 16–18 months were subjected to two isolation tests, one performed in the indoor part of their […]
Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of Angus steers during pre-slaughter handling and relationship with temperament and physiological responses
This study examined the behavioural expression of cattle immediately prior to slaughter through the process of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA), and compared these results to measurements of physiology and temperament. Twenty-eight Angus steers were filmed while in a funnel chute as they were being moved towards an abattoir killing box. Footage of cattle was shown […]