A Close Keeper–Nonhuman Animal Distance Does Not Reduce Undesirable Behavior in Contact Yard Goats and Sheep

This study investigated the relation between zookeeper-nonhuman animal distance and the undesirable behavior goats and sheep exhibited toward visitors of Zoo Atlanta’s contact yard. It hypothesized that a close distance between keeper and animal would be associated with a lower rate of undesirable behavior than would a distant keeper-animal distance. The study recorded rate of […]

Retreat space and human visitor density moderate undesirable behavior in petting zoo animals

This study focused on the relationship between nonhuman animal behavior and envi-ronment- specifically, between the undesirable behavior exhibited by domestic pet-ting zoo animals in the presence of humans and the spatial design of the petting zoo environment. A spatial feature of a petting zoo referred to as a retreat space was ma-nipulated so that it […]