State–space models of individual animal movement
Detailed observation of the movement of individual animals offers the potential to understand spatial population processes as the ultimate consequence of individual behaviour, physiological constraints and fine-scale environmental influences. However, movement data from individuals are intrinsically stochastic and often subject to severe observation error. Linking such complex data to dynamical models of movement is a […]
Assessing the welfare of laboratory mice in their home environment using animal-based measures – a benchmarking tool
Welfare problems in laboratory mice can be a consequence of an ongoing experiment, or a characteristic of a particular genetic line, but in some cases, such as breeding animals, they are most likely to be a result of the design and management of the home cage. Assessment of the home cage environment is commonly performed […]
Bottlenose dolphins engaging in more social affiliative behaviour judge ambiguous cues more optimistically
Cognitive bias tests measure variation in emotional appraisal and are validated methods to assess animals’ affective states. However, the link between social behaviours and cognitive bias has not yet been investigated. Bottlenose dolphins are a gregarious species for whom welfare research is increasing in importance, and thus are a good model to test such an […]