Do Monkeys Want Audio or Visual Stimuli? Interactive Computers for Choice with White-Faced Sakis in Zoos
Interactive systems were built to give monkeys a choice over when and where to trigger stimuli as a way to control their environment to improve their welfare indices. Typically, systems only support the triggering of one stimulus – either audio or visual. In this study, a system was developed for monkeys that allowed them to […]
Does Enclosure Size Influence the Behaviour & Welfare of Captive Snakes (Pantherophis guttatus)?
There is much evidence in mammals and birds demonstrating the importance of providing sufficient space to allow captive animals to exhibit natural behaviours, however, little such evidence exists for reptiles. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether enclosure size impacted on the behaviour and welfare of captive corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus). Snakes (N […]
Investigating food preference in zoo‐housed meerkats
Understanding food preference among animals in human care can support improvements to welfare through training and day-to-day care (e.g., diet management). Little has been published about food preference in zoo-housed meerkats. Assessing meerkat food preference would be useful, not only for the welfare of that species, but also for developing approaches to assessing food preference […]
Does the provision of environmental enrichment affect the behaviour and welfare of captive snakes?
There is a wealth of evidence demonstrating the benefits of environmental enrichment across a range of different animal species. However, there is comparatively little such research into the effect of enrichment provision on captive reptiles. The aim of this study was therefore to ascertain if an increase in environmental complexity was beneficial to the behaviour […]
The effects of a choice test between food rewards and human interaction in a herd of domestic horses of varying breeds and experiences
Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little evidence to show that human interaction (scratching or patting) has reward value or if domestic horses perceive human touch as social bonding. Most equine training is based on negative reinforcement, but food is a known reward for training through positive reinforcement. […]
Environmental enrichment techniques and tryptophan supplementation used to improve the quality of life and animal welfare of Nile tilapia
The adoption of high standards of animal welfare improves the quality of life for animals being reared and produces improved end products for consumers. In this study, we investigate the role of environmental enrichment and tryptophan supplementation in increasing animal welfare indices in tilapia. To do this, the environment where fish are reared is enriched […]
Turkeys prefer fluorescent light with supplementary ultraviolet radiation
Turkeys are usually reared under incandescent or fluorescent lamps which emit minimal radiation in the ultraviolet region. Because turkeys have the capacity to be visually sensitive to ultraviolet radiation (UV), this possibly makes such light sources unsuited to the visual ecology of turkeys. Previous work showed that providing UV in conjunction with straw and visual […]
How should the psychological well-being of zoo elephants be objectively investigated?
Animal welfare (sometimes termed ‘‘well-being’’) is about feelings – states such as ‘‘suffering’’ or ‘‘contentment’’ that we can infer but cannot measure directly. Welfare indices have been developed from two main sources: studies of suffering humans, and of research animals deliberately subjected to challenges known to affect emotional state. We briefly review the resulting indices […]
Control, Choice, and Assessments of the Value of Behavioral Management to Nonhuman Primates in Captivity
Many people have devoted considerable effort to enhancing the environments of nonhuman primates in captivity. There is substantial motivation to develop experimental, analytical, and interpretational frameworks to enable objective measurements of the value of environmental enrichment/behavioral management efforts. The consumer- demand approach is a framework not frequently implemented in studies of nonhuman primate welfare but […]
Science-based assessment of animal welfare: farm animals
Animal welfare is to do with the feelings experienced by animals: the absence of strong negative feelings, usually called suffering, and (probably) the presence of positive feelings, usually called pleasure. In any assessment of welfare, it is these feelings that should be assessed. Because feelings are subjective, they cannot be investigated directly. However, there are […]