Saliva and Blood Cortisol Measurement in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): Methodology, Application, and Limitations
A central task of zoos and aquaria is the frequent and accurate assessment of their animals’ welfare. Recently, important steps have been made, such as the introduction of animal welfare evaluation tools and welfare decision trees. To determine animal welfare, it is not only important to collect life history data, such as longevity and reproductive […]
The use of saliva cortisol, urinary cortisol, and catecholamine measurements for a noninvasive assessment of stress responses in dogs
A problem in assessing animal welfare is that collecting data in itself may be stressful to the animals. Therefore, noninvasive methods for collecting data have to be devised and tested. A first step in investigating saliva cortisol, urinary cortisol, and urinary catecholamine as noninvasive indicators of canine well-being is the validation of these hormonal measures […]
Salivary cortisol in captive dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)- a non-invasive technique
Dolphins in captivity have to cope with severe changes in their environment. So far, there are few studies on the welfare of these animals under these conditions. The aim of the present study was to find if cortisol was present in the saliva of dolphins and to explore the possibility of performing serial, non-invasive cortisol […]
Mother rearing of dairy calves: Reactions to isolation and to confrontation with an unfamiliar conspecific in a new environment
The aim of this study was to test the effects of mother rearing on behavioural and physiological stress reactions of calves in challenging situations. Thus, we compared mother-reared and artificially reared calves that were kept in the same group but with varying contact with adults. Mother-reared calves (Mother) were suckled and had unrestricted contact with […]
Impact of structural and cognitive enrichment on the learning performance, behavior and physiology of dwarf goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)
Intensive husbandry usually offers only limited opportunities for animals to perform their characteristic species–specific behavior and can lead to boredom, stress or frustration. The positive impact of structural forms of environmental enrichment on animal welfare is well investigated because it is relatively low-cost and quickly performed. In contrast, approaches that integrated cognitive enrichment into the […]
Qualitative Behaviour Assessment of dogs in the shelter and home environment and relationship with quantitative behaviour assessment and physiological responses
Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) was utilised to examine the behavioural expression of dogs in different housing environments and the results were compared to measurements of quantitative behaviour and physiology. Firstly, quantitative behavioural and physiological differences were investigated between dogs in 3 housing environments (short-term shelter confinement, ≤4 days, n = 10; long-term shelter confinement, >30 […]
Evaluation of visible eye white and maximum eye temperature as non-invasive indicators of stress in dairy cows
The aim of this study was to investigate if visible eye white and eye temperature measurements are feasible non-invasive physiological indicators of acute stress in cows when they are exposed to cattle crush treatment for claw trimming. In the experimental setting, 30 cows of two breeds (Red Holstein and Brown Swiss) were exposed to a […]