Social Reward Behaviour in Two Groups of European Grey Wolves (Canis lupus lupus)—A Case Study
Prosociality occurs in many species and is likely to be a crucial factor for the survival of group-living animals. Social feedback is an important mechanism for the coordination of group decisions. Since group-living animals with specific personality axes, i.e., boldness, are known to provide certain benefits for their group, bold actions might receive more prosocial […]
The Use of a “Go/Go” Cognitive Bias Task and Response to a Novel Object to Assess the Effect of Housing Enrichment in Sheep (Ovis aries)
It is widely acknowledged that environmental enrichment can improve animals’ welfare and emotional state. This study used cognitive bias and response to a novel object to assess the effect of enriched housing on emotional state in sheep. Eighteen sheep were trained to discriminate between high-quality and low-quality reward locations using a go/go task. Sheep were […]
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) in U.S. zoos: I. individual behavior profiles and their relationship to breeding success
Abstract This is the first part of a multi-zoo study to analyze the effects of captive environments on black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) behavior, breeding success, and well-being. We estimated the reliability and validity of a standardized method of cross-institutional assessment of the behavior of individual rhinoceros. In 1994 and 1995, we asked zookeepers at 19 […]
Simple toys do not alter the behavior of aged rhesus monkeys
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430100606.abs Simple toys and sticks have frequently been suggested as inexpensive forms of environmental enrichment for nonhuman primates. Most descriptions of these items do not provide quantitative data on their use, or the effects that their presence have on general behavior. We tested wooden sticks and four different dog toys with aged and young […]
The effect of group size on the behaviour and welfare of four fish species commonly kept in home aquaria
Previous research into fish welfare has focussed particularly on commercially important aquaculture species. However, with over 350 million fishes traded annually within the ornamental fish industry, surprisingly little consideration has been given to the welfare of fish kept in home aquaria. Here, the welfare of four commonly kept species of ornamental fish (neon tetras, white […]
A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses
Fear is arguably the most commonly investigated emotion in domestic animals. In the current review we attempt to establish the level of repeatability and validity found for fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, poultry and horses. We focus the review on the three most common types of fear tests: the arena test […]
Control and complexity in novel object enrichment
We discuss the properties of controllability and complexity in novel object enrichment, their definition and present a critique of previous work related to them. We address the relationship between control and complexity, the evolutionary basis of their attractiveness and suggest that the acquisition of control may be a more enriching process than its execution. We […]
The effect of morphine on changes in behaviour and physiology in intraperitoneally vaccinated Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Abstract Granulomatous peritonitis is often induced by intraperitoneal vaccination in fish. Peritonitis is a very painful condition in mammals, but little is known about how fish experience this condition. In a previous experiment we found increased latency to eat and a tendency to decreased swimming during feeding in vaccinated salmon housed in groups of three. […]
Evaluating the effect of semi-group housing of rabbit does on their offspring’s fearfulness: can we use the open-field test?
Breeding does are usually housed one doe per cage, but there is an increased interest in (semi-)group housing systems designed to improve welfare. However, there is a lack of information on how such systems actually affect different aspects of rabbit welfare. We aimed to discern differences in fearfulness in female offspring born and raised in […]
Effects of mother versus artificial rearing during the first 12 weeks of life on challenge responses of dairy cows
We investigated the effects of mother versus artificial rearing on the responses to a social and a non-social challenge in adulthood. Rearing of treatment groups only differed during the first 12 weeks of life. Artificially reared animals were separated from their mothers within 24 h after birth and fed via an automatic milk feeder six […]