Linking the roles of personality and stress physiology for managing the welfare of captive big cats
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2021 |
Authors: |
Janice Vaz, Alan Gerard McElligott, Edward Narayan |
Publication/Journal: |
Animal Welfare |
Keywords: |
animal personalities, animal welfare, big cats, coping style, glucocorticoids, individual variation, stressors |
ISBN: |
0962-7286 |
Abstract:
Animal welfare is important for the humane treatment of animals under our care. Zoos and rescue centres manage various charismatic animals such as big cats with limited resources. It is therefore essential for caretakers to understand the needs of an individual big cat to ensure its welfare. However, these needs may differ due to a big cat’s personality, which may be identified by its coping style in a stressful situation. In addition, stress is one of the major factors affecting animal welfare. There is limited evidence showing strong associations between personality and stress physiology in big cats. This review focusses on the integration of personality and stress physiology of captive big cats, to highlight possible improvements in their husbandry. Our review identifies key factors that may influence big cat responses to stressors. These influencing factors include a) social interactions; b) environment; c) life-history and evolutionary traits; d) genetics and e) health. The first two factors are covered quite well in the literature; however, the last three are potentially very promising avenues for future research to better understand how we can improve new big cat welfare.