Inside out: heart rate monitoring to advance the welfare and conservation of maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
Anthropogenic change is a major threat to individual species and biodiversity. Yet the behavioral and physiological responses of animals to these changes remain understudied. This is due to the technological challenges in assessing these effects in situ. Using captive maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus, n = 6) as a model, we deployed implantable biologgers and collected physiological data […]
The role of heart rate monitoring to assess workload during maintenance interval training in National Hunt racehorses
Quantitative assessment of racehorse workload and fitness levels can be achieved through heart rate monitoring (HRM), an established reliable indicator of workload. Using HRM can aid trainers in formulating evidence-based training regimes and evaluating individual horses’ progress during training. Despite this, HRM is not used consistently within racehorse training. This study aimed to evaluate how […]
Behavioral and physiological measures in dairy goats with and without small ruminant lentivirus infection
Although goats exhibit no visible symptoms of discomfort in the subclinical stage of small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) infection, we examined their welfare at the behavioral and physiological level. Twelve SRLV-seropositive (SRLV) and eight SRLV-seronegative (control) goats in their first, second, and more than second lactation were observed for pain behaviors, locomotor activity, standing, lying, eating, […]
Testing the minimum approach distance guidelines for incubating Royal penguins Eudyptes schlegeli
Minimum approach distance guidelines are common tools to maintain a buffer between breeding seabirds and human activity, with the goal of mitigating potentially harmful impacts from these interactions. We employed an experimental design to measure the heart rate and behaviour of Royal penguins on Macquarie Island, Australia, in response to a single pedestrian visit using […]
The effect of enclosure type on the behavior and heart rate of captive coyotes
The potential for captivity to elicit changes in animal behavior and physiology is well known. Recent research on captive populations has examined the effect of feeding protocols, enclosure types, and enrichment programs on indices of stress and displays of species typical behaviors. We investigated the impact of enclosure type upon captive coyotes (Canis latrans) by […]
Heart rate and behavior are regulated independently of corticosterone following diverse acute stressors
Captive European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were subjected to five acute stressors: a visual stressor (strobe light), an auditory stressor (music), and disturbance by three different humans; their accustomed caretaker, an antagonist (the experimenter), and a novel human. Heart rate (HR), behavioral, and corticosterone (CORT) responses to each stressor were simultaneously recorded. The visual stressor elicited […]
Effects of sleep deprivation on cardiac autonomic and pituitary-adrenocortical stress reactivity in rats
A demanding life style, often associated with restricted time for sleep, is a growing problem in our society and may become a major health issue in the near future. Since the physiological stress system plays a critical role in coping with a challenge, it is important to know whether this system is affected by sleep […]
Usage of high-performance mattresses for transport of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20190.abs Ground transport can be a stressful operation for dolphins if the long period of restraint causes damage to internal organs, especially to the lung, generated by their own weight. Buoyancy is deprived from dolphins under moist transport, in which dolphins are transported on mattresses. Upgrading mattresses is an effective way to modify the […]
Electrocardiography of the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea)
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430100311.abs For electrocardiography to be a useful diagnostic tool, it is important to establish the electrocardiographic parameters of a specific population under similar conditions of data collection. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) collected from 14 (4.10) Anoyx cinerea, chemically immobilized with a ketamine/midazolam combination, are analyzed for their mean, range, and standard deviation of parameters. A mean […]
Behavioural and physiological assessment of positive and negative emotion in sheep
The assessment of emotional states in animals, particularly positive ones, remains a scientific challenge. We investigated differences in behavioural and physiological measures recorded in sheep, Ovis orientalis aries, during situations likely to coincide with negative, intermediate and positive emotional valence. Reactions of 15 sheep were observed during separation from group members (negative valence), standing in […]