New Insights in Zoo Animal Welfare

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Zoo Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 21546

Special Issue Editor

Department of Animal and Food Science, School of Veterinary Science, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: animal welfare; welfare assessment; animal behaviour; stress physiology; companion animals, wild animals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zoo animal welfare is an area of active research in which exciting new developments related to both welfare assessment and welfare improvement strategies have been identified. For example, much attention is now being paid to the assessment and fostering of positive welfare in wild animals under human care. Additionally, there is growing interest in the welfare of taxonomic groups—mainly fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates—that until recently have received less attention. The aim of this Special Issue is to assemble a collection of high-quality papers that show the latest developments in the field of zoo animal welfare. Both original research and review papers will be welcome. Particular attention will be given to the following specific topics:

  • Positive welfare in zoo animals.
  • Welfare indicators and welfare assessment protocols for zoo animals.
  • The welfare of fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
  • Species differences in response to zoo conditions.

Prof. Dr. Xavier Manteca
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • animal welfare
  • stress
  • zoo animals
  • welfare assessment
  • environmental enrichment

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2742 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Visitors on Non-Primate Species in Zoos: A Quantitative Review
by Ellen Williams, Violet Hunton, Geoff Hosey and Samantha J. Ward
Animals 2023, 13(7), 1178; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071178 - 28 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 7050
Abstract
Visitors are a prominent feature in the lives of zoo animals, and their presence can cause a range of impacts on zoo animals (typically classed as positive, negative or neutral impacts), commonly referred to as the ‘visitor effect’. This paper quantitatively collates the [...] Read more.
Visitors are a prominent feature in the lives of zoo animals, and their presence can cause a range of impacts on zoo animals (typically classed as positive, negative or neutral impacts), commonly referred to as the ‘visitor effect’. This paper quantitatively collates the literature on the visitor effect in non-primate species, investigates the types of measures used to assess impacts of visitors on animals and considers whether impacts vary across non-primate species in zoos. In total, there were 105 papers which had investigated the impact of zoo visitors on 252 non-primate species/species groups. There has been a steady increase in visitor effect research in zoos since 2012 and this body of work incorporates species from avian (28% study species), reptilian (9%), amphibian (2%), fish (4%) and invertebrate taxa (1%). However, there is still a bias towards mammalian species (56%). The response to visitors varied across taxa. Amphibians responded negatively to visitors more frequently than would be expected by chance (p < 0.05), birds responded neutrally more frequently than would be expected by chance (p < 0.05) and fish responded neutrally and ‘unknown’ more frequently than would be expected by chance (p < 0.05). This review highlighted a number of animal-based metrics which have been used to assess the impacts of visitors on animals, with measures used varying across taxa. Moving forwards, it is recommended that moving forwards researchers incorporate a suite of measures, incorporating those which are meaningful in terms of being representative of individual animal experiences and animal welfare, collected in a manner which should capture those metrics accurately. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights in Zoo Animal Welfare)
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16 pages, 875 KiB  
Article
Relationships between the Content of Micro- and Macroelements in Animal Samples and Diseases of Different Etiologies
by Marina V. Stepanova, Larisa F. Sotnikova and Sergei Yu. Zaitsev
Animals 2023, 13(5), 852; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050852 - 26 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1599
Abstract
Many of the micro- and macro-elements (MMEs) required by the body are found in environmental objects in concentrations different from their original concentration that can lead to dangerous animal diseases (“microelementoses”). The aim was to study the features of MME (accumulating in wild [...] Read more.
Many of the micro- and macro-elements (MMEs) required by the body are found in environmental objects in concentrations different from their original concentration that can lead to dangerous animal diseases (“microelementoses”). The aim was to study the features of MME (accumulating in wild and exotic animals) in connection with particular diseases. The work using 67 mammal species from four Russian zoological institutions was completed in 2022. Studies of 820 cleaned and defatted samples (hair, fur, etc.) after “wet-acid-ashing” on an electric stove and in a muffle furnace were performed using a Kvant-2A atomic absorption spectrometer. The content of zinc, copper, iron, cadmium, lead, and arsenic was assessed. The level of MME accumulation in the animal body contributes not only to the MME status and the development of various concomitant diseases, but the condition itself can occur by intake of a number of micronutrients and/or drugs. Particular correlations between the accumulation of Zn and skin, oncological diseases, Cu—musculoskeletal, cardiovascular diseases, Fe—oncological diseases, Pb—metabolic, nervous, oncological diseases, and Cd—cardiovascular diseases were established. Therefore, monitoring of the MME status of the organism must be carried out regularly (optimally once every 6 months). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights in Zoo Animal Welfare)
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14 pages, 1847 KiB  
Article
Activity Patterns of Captive Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)
by Kathryn A. Bugler, James G. Ross and Adrian M. Paterson
Animals 2023, 13(5), 846; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050846 - 25 Feb 2023
Viewed by 4021
Abstract
We studied the activity budgets of seven Ailurus fulgens, at three zoos within Australasia, using video cameras, and in-person observations. Red panda in this study followed a crepuscular activity pattern, with another short peak of activity around midnight. Ambient temperature greatly affected [...] Read more.
We studied the activity budgets of seven Ailurus fulgens, at three zoos within Australasia, using video cameras, and in-person observations. Red panda in this study followed a crepuscular activity pattern, with another short peak of activity around midnight. Ambient temperature greatly affected panda activity patterns; red panda allocated more time to resting and sleeping when temperatures increased. This preliminary study suggests how environmental factors affect captive red panda, which will help better inform captive facilities, and how this might impact their wild conspecifics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights in Zoo Animal Welfare)
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24 pages, 7737 KiB  
Article
Cognitive Foraging Enrichment (but Not Non-Cognitive Enrichment) Improved Several Longer-Term Welfare Indicators in Bottlenose Dolphins
by Isabella L. K. Clegg, Mariana Domingues, Elin Ström and Linda Berggren
Animals 2023, 13(2), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020238 - 09 Jan 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4922
Abstract
Bottlenose dolphins are the most common cetacean kept globally in zoos and aquaria (hereafter zoos), and are gregarious animals with a mostly opportunistic, generalist feeding strategy in the wild. In zoos, they have limited to no opportunities to express natural foraging behaviours as [...] Read more.
Bottlenose dolphins are the most common cetacean kept globally in zoos and aquaria (hereafter zoos), and are gregarious animals with a mostly opportunistic, generalist feeding strategy in the wild. In zoos, they have limited to no opportunities to express natural foraging behaviours as they receive their daily food ration of dead fish in a series of training sessions. Enrichment provision has increased in recent years, but items are still predominantly simple and floating in nature, and do not always target the animals’ problem-solving or food-acquisition behaviours. These discrepancies run concurrently with the intense debate about dolphin welfare in zoos and how to improve it. The current study used a within-subject design on 11 bottlenose dolphins at Kolmårdens Djurpark and measured how several welfare indicators differed between two treatments of “cognitive” and “non-cognitive” food-based enrichment. The treatments were provided on an alternating basis for eight consecutive weeks: during cognitive enrichment weeks, the animals received items which stimulated their problem-solving and foraging behaviours, and during non-cognitive enrichment weeks, they received simple items paired with fish (to eliminate bias due to food value). Data were taken related to several multidisciplinary welfare parameters during enrichment provision and training sessions, and to activity budget behaviours throughout the week. During the cognitive as opposed to non-cognitive enrichment weeks, the dolphins engaged more with the enrichment, were more motivated to participate in training sessions and performed less anticipatory and stereotypic behaviours, suggesting that cognitive enrichment improved several indicators of bottlenose dolphin welfare. Valuable lines of further investigation would be to understand how individual differences and different types of cognitive enrichment impact potential welfare benefits. Our results suggest that enrichment items promoting cognitive foraging behaviours may improve dolphin welfare, and therefore zoos might prioritise giving cognitive enrichment to this species as well as considering the same for other species with similar cognitive skills and foraging ecologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights in Zoo Animal Welfare)
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36 pages, 5743 KiB  
Article
Island Life: Use of Activity Budgets and Visibility to Evaluate a Multi-Species Within-Zoo Exhibit Move
by Katherine Finch, James O. Waterman, Veronica B. Cowl, Ashleigh Marshall, Lydia Underwood, Leah J. Williams, Nick Davis and Lisa Holmes
Animals 2022, 12(16), 2123; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12162123 - 19 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2925
Abstract
Modern zoos strive to construct habitats which both enable and encourage animals to engage in species-specific behaviour, without compromising their visibility to visitors. Here, we present the findings of a within-zoo move to a custom-built exhibit (Islands at Chester Zoo, UK) with [...] Read more.
Modern zoos strive to construct habitats which both enable and encourage animals to engage in species-specific behaviour, without compromising their visibility to visitors. Here, we present the findings of a within-zoo move to a custom-built exhibit (Islands at Chester Zoo, UK) with respect to the behaviour of four mammal species; the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), crested macaque (Macaca nigra), Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) and the Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). We used full activity budgets along with Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) to gain insight into how the move to a more naturalistic exhibit influenced behaviour. Engagement in abnormal behaviour remained low during the study period for all four species, suggesting no adverse responses to the change in environment. Following the move, both the non-human primate species spent more time engaged in positive social interactions with conspecifics, highlighting the importance of social support during enclosure moves. Time spent visible to the public was largely unaffected by the enclosure move for the Sumatran orangutan, whilst the movement to a new environment increased visibility for the Malayan sun bear and decreased visibility for the crested macaque and Malayan tapir. We demonstrate the value of monitoring behaviour throughout the translocation of zoo-housed species and outline the positive behavioral impacts of providing individuals with naturalistic, species-appropriate environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights in Zoo Animal Welfare)
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