Zookeepers’ Perception of Zoo Canid Welfare and its Effect on Job Satisfaction, Worldwide
Recently, zookeepers’ role in monitoring and assessing zoo animal welfare is gaining importance. One hundred-sixteen zoo canid keepers responded to an online questionnaire aimed at assessing, on a 1 to 5 scoring scale, their perception of the importance and fulfilment of the Brambell’s Freedoms for zoo canids, the bond with canids under their care, and […]
Sex segregation affects exploratory and social behaviors of zebrafish according to controlled housing conditions
Zebrafish has become an animal model in research and articles have established ideal conditions for their maintenance. However, little is known regarding the influence of gender and other cues on zebrafish behavior. Thus, here we analyzed the exploratory and social behavior of different sexes (male and female, mixed or segregated) under different housing conditions with […]
A review of injuries caused by elephants in captivity: an examination of predominant factors
Injuries to people caused by elephants in zoos can be lethal. Data on incidents of injury to keepers and visitors were collated from newspaper articles, personal communications with zoo directors and keepers, and published information from the European Elephant Group. Although the data were not of consistent quality and detail across the three sources, the […]
Exploration and risk assessment in female wild house mice (Mus musculus musculus) and two laboratory strains
In an evolutionary prospective, it is possible that female mice have a differential perception of novel events than male mice and use a different behavioural strategy for risk assessment. However, female mice are less studied than male mice in behavioural tests of emotional reactivity. The aim of the present study was to investigate how wild-derived […]
Sex differences in stress responses: Focus on ovarian hormones
Women in the reproductive age are more vulnerable to develop affective disorders than men. This difference may attribute to anatomical differences, hormonal influences and environmental factors such as stress. However, the higher prevalence in women normalizes once menopause is established, suggesting that ovarian hormones may play an important role in the development of depression in […]
Affiliation and Aggression As Related to Gender in Domestic Chicks (Gallus gallus)
Social discrimination in male and female domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) was investigated by using (1) latencies of approach response, (2) simultaneous free choice, and (3) intersubject aggressive-pecking tests. In approach-response tests, females showed shorter latencies when tested with cagemates than when tested with strangers, whereas males showed shorter latencies when tested with strangers than when […]
Sex differences in the effects of two stress paradigms on dopaminergic neurotransmission
Sex differences in behavioral and neurobiological responses to stress are considered to modulate the prevalence of some psychiatric disorders, including major depression. In the present study, we compared dopaminergic neurotransmission and behavior in response to two different stress paradigms, the Forced Swim Test (FST) and the Chronic Mild Stress (CMS). Male and female rats were […]
Enriching the lives of bears in zoos
Bears have a long history in captivity and, in recent times, various enrichment techniques have been developed to stimulate the complex behavioural repertoire of these species. Enrichment strategies, where possible, should allow for an expression of natural behaviours observed in the wild. Enclosure design is critically important and enrichment should not be used to compensate […]
Effect of gender and halothane genotype on cognitive bias and its relationship with fear in pigs
Cognitive bias (CB) has been recently proposed as a tool to study emotions by assessing the cognitive function through behaviour observation. It is based on the premise that subjects in a negative affective state perform more negative judgements about ambiguous stimuli than subjects in positive affective state. This study aimed at investigating if halothane genotype […]
Empathy toward animals and people: The role of gender and length of service in a sample of Italian veterinarians
Empathy plays an important role in interpersonal relationships, and it also shapes the relationship between human and nonhuman species, affecting the way animals are treated and cared for. Veterinarians play a key role with regard to animal welfare and, especially in companion animal practice, they have to care for nonhuman patients as well as for […]