A comprehensive investigation of negative visitor behaviour in the zoo setting and captive animals’ behavioural response
Negative visitor behaviour in zoos such as banging, shouting and feeding animals are unwanted, but under-studied, visitor actions. It is not known how prevalent negative behaviour is, which species or enclosure type receives the most negative behaviour or how these behaviours affect zoo-housed animals. In this study, a comprehensive assessment of negative visitor behaviour, using […]
Does the Absence of Zoo Visitors during the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact Gorilla Behavior?
Whether or not primates are behaviorally affected by the presence of visitors in a zoo setting is a question of great relevance to zoo animal well-being. The situation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic provided an unusual opportunity to examine how the absence of visitors impacts behavior. We took advantage of this opportunity to study the […]
Exploring the Effect of the COVID-19 Zoo Closure Period on Flamingo Behaviour and Enclosure Use at Two Institutions
Visitors can influence the behaviour of zoo animals through their auditory and visual presence, with mixed findings of negative, neutral, and positive effects on welfare. This study opportunistically utilised the UK-wide COVID-19 period of zoo closure to investigate the activity and enclosure usage of Greater (Phoenicopterus roseus) and Chilean (P. chilensis) Flamingos housed at two […]
Influence of Zoo Visitor Presence on the Behavior of Captive Indian Gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus) in a Zoological Park
Visitors to zoos can be a source of potential disturbance and stress to some captive, nonhuman animals in the wild. To determine the influence of visitor presence on captive bison (Bos gaurus gaurus), the study analyzed the behavior of 4 individuals at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, India. The study often observed the behavior of […]
Visitor effects on anxiety in two captive groups of western lowland gorillas
There is growing interest in examining the effects that visitors have on the welfare of zoo primates. Most recently, the importance of evaluating the combined impacts of visitors and management practices on anxiety levels of these animals has been highlighted. Studies that take such an approach have the potential not only to highlight how visitors […]
How does the zoo environment affect the behaviour of captive primates?
It is important for us to be able to understand the behaviour of primates in zoos for at least three reasons: firstly as a means towards ensuring their welfare, secondly to use that understanding to ensure a positive zoo experience for zoo visitors, and thirdly so that results of basic research undertaken on zoo primates […]
A preliminary model of human–animal relationships in the zoo
The concept of the human–animal relationship (HAR) is widely used in farm animal research to describe the outcome of the different qualities and quantities of interaction between stockpersons and the animals in their care. Thus, negative, positive or neutral HARs may result from the effect of mostly negative (e.g. rough handling), neutral (e.g. no handling) […]
The Effect of Zoo Visitors on the Behaviour and Welfare of Zoo Mammals
There is evidence that the presence of the visiting public affects the behaviour of zoo-housed mammals. Understanding the effect of visitors is important in improving animal welfare, achieving zoo conservation goals, increasing visitor education/entertainment, and facilitating interpretation of data on zoo animal biology. A series of studies and experiments focusing on the effect of zoo […]
Environmental influences on stereotypy and the activity budget of Indian leopards (Panthera pardus) in four zoos in Southern India
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.10063.abs To eliminate abnormal behaviors in leopards (Panthera pardus), such as stereotypic pacing, by utilizing environmental enrichment techniques, a proper understanding of their behavior in captive environments is required. Hence there is a need for animal welfare studies in Indian zoos. The activity budgets of 16 leopards were recorded across four southern Indian zoos: […]
A note on the influence of visitors on the behaviour and welfare of zoo-housed gorillas
Visitors to zoos can be a source of potential stress to some captive-housed primates. To date, the effect of the human audience on the welfare of captive gorillas has been overlooked. This study thus examined the behaviour of six zoo-housed gorillas during periods of both high and low visitor density, to establish whether there was […]