The Link Between Personality, Subjective Well-being, and Welfare in Zoo-Housed Sulawesi Crested Macaques (Macaca nigra)
Assessing welfare is at the forefront of modern zoo practice, and there is increasing recognition of how certain personality types are at greater risk of poor welfare outcomes than others when exposed to stressors. We investigated the associations between behaviour, welfare, subjective well-being, and personality in two groups of Sulawesi crested macaques (Macaca nigra) (n = 13) […]
Individual personality predicts social network assemblages in a colonial bird
Animal personalities manifest as consistent individual differences in the performance of specific behavioural expressions. Personality research has implications for zoo animal welfare, as it can further our understanding of how captive individuals may differ in their resource use and provide insight into improving individual and group social health. For group living species, personality may enable […]
Using Keeper Questionnaires to Capture Zoo-Housed Tiger (Panthera tigris) Personality: Considerations for Animal Management
Individual personalities affect animal experiences of zoo environments, impact on an animal’s coping ability and have potential implications for welfare. Keeper assessments have been identified as a quick and reliable way of capturing data on personality in a range of species and have practical application in improving animal welfare on an individual level. Despite widespread […]
Personality and behavioral changes in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) following the death of herd members
Elephants are highly social beings with complex individual personalities. We know that elephants have a general interest in death, investigating carcasses, not just limited to kin; however, research does not explore in depth whether individuals change their behavior or personality following traumatic events, such as the death of a conspecific. Within a captive herd of […]
The influence of sex, rearing history, and personality on abnormal behaviour in zoo-housed bonobos (Pan paniscus)
Abnormal behaviours are often used as a welfare indicator in zoo-housed great apes. While previous studies report on the occurrence of abnormal behaviours in zoo-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), there is currently a lack of knowledge about such behaviours in the closely related bonobo (Pan paniscus). Here we report on the prevalence, diversity and frequency of […]
Affective styles and emotional lateralization: A promising framework for animal welfare research
The growing recognition of animals as individuals has broader implications for farm animal welfare research. Even under highly standardized on-farm conditions, farm animals show heterogeneous but individually consistent behavioural patterns towards various stimuli, based on how they appraise these stimuli. As a result, animal welfare is likely to be highly individual as well, and studying […]
The relationship between personality, season, and wounding receipt in zoo‐housed Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata): A multi‐institutional study
It is important to those managing Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in captive settings to understand predictors of wounding. While studies have demonstrated that season (breeding or nonbreeding) and sex predict rates of wounding received by zoo-housed Japanese macaques, we investigated whether individual differences in personality ratings also might explain some of the observed interindividual variance […]
Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia) personality and subjective well-being: Implications for captive management
Research in animal personality has been increasing over the last decade, as scientists realize its importance to health outcomes. In particular, personality has sometimes been used, in conjunction with other tools, for aspects of captive management, including decreasing stress, increasing positive health outcomes, successful breeding, and infant survival. A few such studies have focused on […]
Is individual temperament related to behaviors in a social context for a Neotropical parakeet species?
The relations of temperament dimensions obtained in tests traditionally used to assess interindividual differences with long-term behaviors and social rank of animals are poorly understood. Here, our aims were: (a) to investigate the relationships between temperament dimensions obtained through behavioral tests and the social rank of white-eyed parakeets (Psittacara leucophthalmus), and (b) to evaluate the […]
Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) personality: A rating assessment with ex Situ Conservation Program sample
Research on felid personality has been conducted in a few species. Further research on new species could be highly informative in regard to the influence that adaptation to different ecological challenges has on felid personality. We evaluated the personality of 58 Iberian lynxes (Lynx pardinus) hosted at 3 different breeding centers for reintroduction. A total […]