General Session 5 Abstracts
|
EFFECTS OF PREDICTABILITY ON FEEDING AND AVERSIVE EVENTS IN CAPTIVE RHESUS MACAQUES (MACACA MULATTA) Daniel Gottlieb, University of California at Davis Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Rhesus macaques housed indoors experience many husbandry activities on a daily basis. The anticipation of these events can lead to stress, regardless of whether the events themselves are positive or aversive. Previous research suggests that making daily events highly predictable will decrease stress and improve welfare. However, some studies have found conflicting results regarding the effects of predictability on welfare. Thus, it is imperative that we empirically test the effect of increasing predictability before implementing new practices for a given species. The specific goal of this study was to identify whether increasing the predictability of daily feeding and cleaning events could decrease stress and anxiety in captive rhesus macaques. This study was conducted on 39 subjects in four rooms at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. Current daily routines were modified to include temporal predictability, signaled predictability, or both. Temporally predictable events occurred reliably at the same time daily, while signaled predictable events were preceded by a distinct event-specific signal in the form of a doorbell. Each subject received all four conditions: unpredictable events, temporally predictable events, signaled predictable events, and temporally and signaled predictable events. The order of events was balanced using a Latin square design. Stress and anxiety under each condition were evaluated by expression of stereotypic and displacement behaviors. Our results showed that feeding events elicited less stress and anxiety behaviors when temporally predictable. In contrast, stress behaviors did not always decrease when events were preceded by the event-specific signal, which increased stress behaviors for some events. |
UTILIZATION OF A PORCH, A NOVEL ENRICHMENT DEVICE FOR RHESUS MACAQUES Jillann Rawlins O’Connor, Oregon Health & Science University Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
One of the challenges of providing enrichment to captive NHPs is ensuring that they are novel. Macaques and other primates can become bored with enrichment such as foraging devices, leading to a decrease in use. One device that appears to be utilized a great deal by captive monkeys is a “porch”, a small cages hung on the outside the home cage. These porches provide monkeys with a greater field of view, and in our experience monkeys seem to spend a great deal of time sitting in them. We investigated whether porches helped to reduce undesired behaviors in 8 adult rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with a history of feces smearing. We scored the amount of feces on the sides of the cage on a scale from 0 (no feces present) to 4 (majority of the cage covered). Observations were taken daily for 2 weeks to establish a baseline score. We then gave half of the monkeys a porch, hung on the cage continuously. The other half received a “smear tray”, a small plastic tray hung from the front of the cage, which was covered with peanut butter 3 times/week. We scored the feces smearing daily for two additional weeks. After two weeks, the treatments were reversed. Monkeys engaged in feces smearing significantly less when the porch was present compared to baseline (Wilcoxon Z=-2.52, p=0.01). There was no significant reduction with the smear board (Z=-1.40, p=0.16). The porch may be an effective part of an enrichment plan aimed at reducing behavioral problems. |
INVESTIGATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ON-GOING PACING IN A PAIR OF SUN BEARS (HELARCTOS MALAYANUS)
Margaret R. Hawkins, Taronga Conservation Society of Australia Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
The number of zoos and other facilities that continue to house their animals on bare surfaces is alarming. For more than 2000 years zoos have been keeping animals in captivity yet the picture today could be the same for the most part. Empty cages with solitary animals staring at nothing, shivering in the cold or trying to find some shade from the heat, hiding in crevices and doing whatever they can to protect their feet from the hot, cold, wet, hard concrete. Lack of stimuli often causes them to sway or pace back and forth until their feet crack from the unforgiving surface. This in turn results in them licking their wounds, which of course will only cause further problems. If the animals are lucky, they have some of their conspecifics sharing the same misery, although aggression is more likely increased due to boredom and breeding is often decreased due to lack of proper surface. This presentation will discuss the many negative effects of lack of substrate and will point out not only the simplicity of providing deep litter but the numerous positive effects providing substrate can have on animals. |
|
FEATHER-DAMAGING BEHAVIOUR IN CAPTIVE PARROTS: ARE SPECIES DIFFERENCES INTRINSIC, OR CAUSED BY VARIATIONS IN HUSBANDRY?
Heather Y. McDonald Kinkaid, University of Guelph Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Feather-damaging behaviour (FDB; in which birds chew or pluck their own feathers) is unknown in free-living parrots but common in captive parrots housed in private homes, rescue or breeding facilities, and zoos. Susceptibility to FDB is suggested – but not formally documented – to vary across species, and its cause(s) remain unconfirmed. To address these issues, we analyzed data from an extensive questionnaire run by The National Parrot Sanctuary Trust, UK, yielding information from 658 individual companion parrots representing 23 species (n≥8 birds per species). FDB prevalence (% individuals affected) varied significantly across species (G22=55.95; P<0.0001). In agreement with common assumptions about vulnerable species, (Cacatua alba) and (Eclectus roratus) were affected in great numbers (>40%) and two Amazona species were unaffected. However, FDB occurred in 50% of individuals from (Poicephalus meyeri) – a species not usually suggested as high risk. FDB prevalence was unrelated to species differences in population mean ages, sex ratios, and most aspects of husbandry (e.g., outdoor access or daily hours spent alone) (P>0.20). FDB did tend to be less prevalent in species whose main provided diets often included fresh fruits/vegetables (F1,22=3.31; P=0.08); however, this relationship appeared correlational (not causal) since individuals regularly provided with fresh foods were no less likely to exhibit FDB than conspecifics that were not (T22=-0.45; P=0.66). Perhaps the association between captive diet and FDB reflects species differences in underlying traits (e.g., natural food-handling mode) that affect what humans feed them. Further analyses will test this hypothesis and seek to identify which traits might place some species at an intrinsically high risk of FDB |
ENRICHING MINK BY THE THOUSANDS: PRACTICAL ENRICHMENTS FOR SEMI-DOMESTICATED CARNIVORES ON COMMERCIAL FUR-FARMS
Kaitlin Bahlmann, University of Guelph Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Worldwide, over 50 million mink are farmed for fur p.a. Pacing and similar stereotypies are prevalent, and pelt-biting not uncommon, in their small, barren wire-mesh cages. Collaborating with the Canada Mink Breeders Association and three Ontario farms, we are developing practical ways of enriching these cages. In 2010, diverse enrichments were supplied to 398 mink between weaning and young adulthood (398 non-enriched siblings acting as controls). Various types of ball (e.g. golf balls; wiffle balls), animal products (e.g. pigs' ears), chewable objects (e.g. sections of wood), hanging devices (e.g. suspended lengths of garden hose) and tunnels were all screened for apparent use by mink; longevity; cleanliness; and their impressions to farmers. Some welfare data were also collected. Stereotypies were too infrequent for comparison, but enriched mink showed a trend to less pelt-chewing (2.1% cf. 4.6%; Fishers p=0.072). In novel object tests for temperament, enriched mink were less aggressive than their non-enriched siblings (chi-squared=13.64, p=0.0002), and non-significantly less prone to screaming when handled (1.3% cf. 3.1%). Many enrichments proved impractical (disintegrating quickly, accumulating faeces, and/or tending to fall out of the cage). In contrast, golf balls, plastic wiffle balls, and suspended lengths of garden hose were judged potentially practical and effective. From July 2011 these will therefore be supplied to 1200 weaned mink (with 1200 non-enriched siblings as controls, in the largest mammalian enrichment study ever conducted), to evaluate their effects on stereotypies, pelt-chewing, endocrine stress, temperament, handleability and productivity (feed consumption, pelt quality; breeding success). |