Handling and Training of Wild Animals: Evidence and Ethics-Based Approaches and Best Practices in the Modern Zoo
There is an ethical responsibility to provide all animals living in human care with optimal and positive well-being. As animals living in zoos and aquariums frequently interact with their human caregivers as part of their daily care routines, it is both relevant and essential to consider the impact of these interactions on animal well-being. Allowing […]
Genetic and environmental parameters for behavioural responses towards humans in farmed ostriches
This study investigated the effect of human-ostrich interactions at an early age on behavioural responses towards humans later in life, as well as computed genetic parameters for behavioural responses towards humans. Responses recorded were a willingness to approach a human handler, allowing touch interactions with the handler, keeping a distance from the handler, wing flapping […]
Reliability of caretakers’ ratings of captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and finless porpoises’(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sp.) behavioral style for welfare monitoring
Qualitative ratings are increasingly used to assess animal welfare. We investigated the associations between daily caretakers’ ratings of individuals’ behavioral style, behavior during free time, participation during training sessions, and environmental variables in captive Yangtze finless porpoises, East-Asian finless porpoises, and bottlenose dolphins. Associations between caretakers’ ratings and behavior were found, including social swimming, fast […]
Influence of handler relationships and experience on health parameters, glucocorticoid responses and behaviour of semi-captive Asian elephants
Declining wild populations combined with accumulating captive populations of e.g. livestock, pets, draught and zoo animals have resulted in some threatened species with substantial proportions of their populations in captivity. The interactions animals have with humans in captivity depend on handler familiarity and relationship quality and can affect animal health, growth and reproduction with consequences […]
The provision of toys to pigs can improve the human-animal relationship
It is now widely recognised that a positive human-animal relationship is beneficial not only for farm animals’ welfare but also for productivity and the quality of products. A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for measuring these emotions. […]
Implications of human-animal interactions on mother-calf interactions in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) dyad
Most research on human-animal interactions (HAls) in zoos focuses on the influence of unfamiliar humans (visitors) on the animals. Limited research focusses on the influence of familiar (keepers/trainers) HAI and there has been no research investigating the impact of familiar HAls on mother-offspring interactions. The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) has been bred and trained in […]
Evaluating changes in salivary oxytocin and cortisol following positive reinforcement training in two adult male western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
Positive reinforcement training (PRT) is associated with increases in species-typical behavior and decreases in stereotypic and abnormal behavior in participating animals. Physiological changes following PRT, for example, increases in oxytocin (OXT) and/or decreases in cortisol (CORT), may facilitate these behavioral changes. This study evaluated salivary OXT and salivary CORT concentrations in two adult male western […]
Assessing and Enhancing the Welfare of Animals with Equivocal and Reliable Cues
The actions of human caretakers strongly influence animals living under human care. Here, we consider how intentional and unintentional signals provided by caretakers can inform our assessment of animals’ well-being as well as help to support it. Our aim is to assist in further developing techniques to learn animals’ affective state from their behavior and […]
Welfare of feral cats and potential influencing factors
The aim of the study was to investigate the habitat, characteristics, and the health status of cat colonies under supervision of a trap-neuter-return program, the distance of the cats maintained with respect to their caregivers as a measure of the animals’ fear of or confidence in humans, and relationships between these factors with regard to […]
Can we measure human-animal interactions in on-farm animal welfare assessment?: Some unresolved issues
Research has documented the effect that stockmanship has on animal welfare and shown that rough handling of animals can make them fearful of people. Interest has arisen in using measures of animals’ responses to people in on-farm welfare assessment. In this article, we discuss some of the unresolved issues that lead us to doubt whether […]