Welfare Improvement by Enrichment Programs in Common Marmoset Females Under Social Isolation
Animal welfare is critical to buffer stress in captive animals and to ensure the reliability of data from studies. The most usual environmental enrichment technique (EE) for social non-human primates is the social enrichment. However, some experimental protocols require keeping individuals isolated, thus demanding other types of EE. We tested in six adult Callithrix jacchus […]
Physical enrichment research for captive fish: time to focus on the DETAILS
Growing research effort has shown that physical enrichment (PE) can improve fish welfare and research validity. However, the inclusion of PE does not always result in positive effects and conflicting findings have highlighted the many nuances involved. Effects are known to depend on species, and life stage tested, but effects may also vary with differences […]
Introducing a Semi-Naturalistic Exhibit As Structural Enrichment for Two Brown Bears (Ursus arctos). Does This Ensure Their Captive Well-Being?
In this study we used the daily activity pattern and use of space as indicators of change in the program of structural enrichment, implemented with 2 subjects of the species Ursus arctos in the Barcelona Zoo. We collected 930 sampling points in each study phase for each of the individuals: The samples were taken in […]
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 […]