Development of guidelines for assessing obesity in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20122.abs Many captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are subjectively considered to be overweight or obese. However, discussions of obesity in chimpanzees are rare in the literature, despite the acknowledged problem. No study to date has systematically examined obesity in captive chimpanzees. This project develops guidelines for defining obesity in captive chimpanzees through the examination of […]
Cortisol administration to pregnant sows affects novelty-induced locomotion, aggressive behaviour, and blunts gender differences in their offspring
Several behavioural effects of prenatal stress are reported in literature, and these seem to depend, among other factors, on the gender studied and the period of gestation in which prenatal stress is applied. In the present study, oral administration of hydrocortisone-acetate (HCA) to 41 pregnant sows was used as a model for prenatal stress, since […]
Time, gender and seasonality in vervet activity: A chronobiological approach
A chronobiological approach has been used to highlight the issue of how climatic factors and breeding seasonality may affect male and female diurnal activity budget. We investigated gender differences for vervet monkeys in the diurnal distribution of feeding, locomotion, inactivity, and social grooming within and between birth, pre-mating, and mating seasons. The main climatic traits […]
Responses to novel situations of female and castrated male pigs with divergent social breeding values and different backtest classifications in barren and straw-enriched housing
The growth of a pig is not only affected by its own genes, but also by the genes of its pen mates. This indirect effect on a pig’s growth is represented as social breeding value (SBV) in a newly developed breeding model. It has been hypothesized that pigs could affect their pen mates’ growth through […]
Empathy towards animals and belief in animal-human-continuity in Italian veterinary students
Empathy towards animals and beliefs in animal-human continuity appear to play an important role in shaping the human-animal relationship and in determining the way animals are treated and cared for. Veterinary medicine plays a central role in animal welfare and has been recognised as a highly caring profession, especially in companion animal practice: however, a […]