Abstract # 135: Integrated zoo animal welfare science
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2006 |
Authors: |
V.A. Melfi |
Publication/Journal: |
International Journal of Primatology |
Keywords: |
primates, welfare, zoo |
Abstract:
Zoo primate welfare is affected by many variables; these can be viewed as
factors which affect the individual and those which affect the group. During
this longitudinal study (> 4 years) multiple indices have been recorded on
Abyssinian colobus (6.2; ranging from 18 months to 21 years old, at the
beginning ofthe study) to investigate their welfare. Multiple indices have been
measured to study welfare issues associated with housing primates in zoos,
which included an assessment ofthe implications of training for
husbandry/veterinary tasks. Behavioural data were collected, during several
observation periods (12 days) from 0800-1600, to establish activity budgets,
social dominance hierarchies and colobus-human interactions. Parasite burden
(Trichuris trichuria) was estimated as the number of eggs per gram of faeces
using the McMasters technique on individually identified faecal samples,
collected daily when possible (N=>500). We found that training, as part of
husbandry, 1) reduced human-animal interactions (F[3,2]=16.6, p<0.001); ii)
did not significantly affect activity budget or social interactions between the
colobus; iii) did enable the individual versus social administration ofthe
antihelmintic drugs, which proved to significantly increase the amount of drug
consumed by each colobus and also led to significantly more worms being
shed post-worming (t[7]=3.033, p<0.05).