Behavioral Effects of Cage Size and Environmental Enrichment in New Zealand White Rabbits

One of the goals of environmental enrichment is to encourage species-typical behaviors, while discouraging abnormal behaviors or stereotypies. Assessing the effectiveness of various enrichment modalities can be challenging, particularly for prey species such as rabbits that exhibit freezing responses in the presence of people. In this study, we housed rabbits in 3 different sized cages and observed their behaviors. The 3 cage sizes were our standard rabbit housing cage, a medium sized cage, and a large run. Based on analysis of the recordings, ethograms were constructed and behaviors were quantified. The rabbits in large runs spent more time performing active, exploratory behaviors (431 ± 74 s) than rabbits in the standard cages(184 ± 55 s). However, space constraints inside research facilities often make it impractical to house rabbits in large runs.Therefore, we decided to explore if enrichment devices could promote the expression of active behaviors, similar to those displayed by rabbits housed in the large runs. We selected 3 devices: a hanging toy, a destructible device, and a dig bin. All 3 enrichment devices promoted more time spent performing active, exploratory behaviors (389 ± 48, 463 ± 50, and 420 ± 44 s,respectively), compared with control rabbits housed without an enrichment device (226 ± 53 s). We also analyzed the fecal glucocorticoids of rabbits after shipping or surgery to determine if enrichment devices could mitigate the physiologic impact of these stressors. We found no significant differences in fecal glucocorticoid levels between rabbits that experienced the stressor and rabbits that did not, or between rabbits with or without enrichment devices. Overall, the provision of largercaging and/or addition of enrichment devices encouraged a broad spectrum of active, species-typical rabbit behaviors, suggestiveof improved animal welfare.

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Environmental enrichment delays the development of stereotypic behavior and reduces variability in behavioral experiments using California mice (Peromyscus californicus)

10.1101/2021.01.05.425454 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vanessa Minie ◽

Stephanie Ramos-Maciel ◽

Emily Wright ◽

Radmila Petric ◽

Brian Trainor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Model Systems ◽

Stereotypic Behavior ◽

Psychiatric Disease ◽

Behavioral Experiments ◽

Environmental Complexity ◽

Preclinical Research ◽

Peromyscus Californicus ◽

Cage Size ◽

California Mice

AbstractDomesticated mice and rats have shown to be powerful model systems for biomedical research, but there are cases in which the biology of species is a poor match for the hypotheses under study. The California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) has unique physiological and behavioral traits and has emerged as a powerful model for studying sex differences in the biology of psychiatric disease, which is particularly relevant considering the new NIH guidelines that require the inclusion of sex as a biological variable. Despite its growing role in preclinical research, there is a lack of studies assessing species-specific housing needs, which presents a challenge for research facilities seeking to ensure good welfare and obtaining high-quality experimental data. Indeed, captive California mice present a high prevalence of stereotypic backflipping behavior, a common consequence of suboptimal housing and a potential source of experimental outcome variability. Using three different cage systems, the present studies show that increasing housing space as well as social and environmental complexity can delay the development of stereotypic behavior in male and female California mice. Critically, this reduction in stereotypy is accompanied by increased effect sizes of stress in an established model for social anxiety. These results suggest that increased cage size and enrichment could enhance welfare in California mice while simultaneously increasing the quality of behavioral experiments.

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Environmental enrichment and the behavioral effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol in rats

Neurotoxicology and Teratology ◽

10.1016/0892-0362(93)90007-b ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 261-266 ◽

Cited By ~ 68

Author(s):

J HANNIGAN ◽

R BERMAN ◽

C ZAJAC

Keyword(s):

Prenatal Exposure ◽

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Behavioral Effects

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Glucocorticoid metabolites in rabbit faeces—Influence of environmental enrichment and cage size

Physiology & Behavior ◽

10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.05.008 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 104 (3) ◽

pp. 469-473 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Stephanie Buijs ◽

Linda J. Keeling ◽

Sophie Rettenbacher ◽

Luc Maertens ◽

Frank A.M. Tuyttens

Keyword(s):

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Cage Size

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Cage size as a factor in environmental enrichment.

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology ◽

10.1037/h0077426 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 89 (6) ◽

pp. 648-654 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Martin Manosevitz ◽

John B. Pryor

Keyword(s):

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Cage Size

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Alopecia Scoring: The Quantitative Assessment of Hair Loss in Captive Macaques

Alternatives to Laboratory Animals ◽

10.1177/026119290503300308 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 193-206 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Paul E. Honess ◽

Jessica L. Gimpel ◽

Sarah E. Wolfensohn ◽

Georgia J. Mason

Keyword(s):

Hair Loss ◽

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Rhesus Macaques ◽

Interobserver Reliability ◽

Scoring Systems ◽

Hair Pulling ◽

Free Living ◽

Direct Observations ◽

Laboratory Rodents ◽

Research Facilities

Many captive animals show forms of pelage loss that are absent in wild or free-living con-specifics, which result from grooming or plucking behaviours directed at themselves or at other individuals. For instance, dorsal hair loss in primates such as rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta) in research facilities, results from excessive hair-pulling or over-grooming by cage-mates. This behaviour appears to be associated with stress, and is controllable to some extent with environmental enrichment. Quantifying alopecia in primates (as in many species) is therefore potentially useful for welfare assessment. A simple system for scoring alopecia was developed and its reliability was tested. Study 1 showed high interobserver reliability between two independent scorers in assessing the state of monkeys’ coats from photographs. Study 2 showed that there were no significant differences between the scores derived from photographs and from direct observations. Thus, where hair loss due to hair pulling exists in captive primates, this scoring system provides an easy, rapid, and validated quantitative method, for use in assessing the success of attempts to reduce it via improved husbandry. In the future, such scoring systems might also prove useful for quantifying barbering in laboratory rodents.

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Effects of environmental enrichment in a captive pair of Golden Parakeet (Guaruba guarouba, Psittacidae) with abnormal behaviors

Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia ◽

10.1007/bf03544297 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 309-314 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Aryanne Clyvia ◽

Angela Bernadette Faggioli ◽

Cynthia Fernandes Cipreste

Keyword(s):

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Abnormal Behaviors

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Behavioral effects of corpus callosum transection and environmental enrichment in adult rats

Behavioural Brain Research ◽

10.1016/j.bbr.2006.05.007 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 172 (1) ◽

pp. 135-144 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Andrei C. Miu ◽

Renata M. Heilman ◽

Sergiu P. Paşca ◽

Catrinel A. Ştefan ◽

Florina Spânu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Corpus Callosum ◽

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Behavioral Effects ◽

Adult Rats

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Effects of active and passive enrichment regimes on fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in captive Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca)

10.1101/2021.12.13.472403 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nirali Panchal ◽

Chena Desai ◽

Ratna Ghosal

Keyword(s):

Environmental Enrichment ◽

Medium Size ◽

Type I ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Cage Size ◽

Zoo Animals ◽

Invasive Method ◽

Free Ranging ◽

Fecal Glucocorticoid

Environmental enrichment improves health and wellbeing of zoo animals. To test this hypothesis, we used Indian leopards, one of the popular zoo animals, as a model system to understand effects of active (interacting) and passive (noninteracting) enrichment elements on stress hormone levels of captive individuals. We included three enrichment categories, category ‘A’ (having both active: large size cage, and passive: controlled temperature, playback of forest sounds and sound proof glasses to filter visitors’ noise, enrichment elements), category ‘B’ (active enrichment type I, small size cage with air coolers), and category C (active enrichment type II, medium size cage without air coolers) for the leopards (n=14) housed in two Indian zoos. We standardized a non-invasive method to measure fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) levels in captive leopards. The standardized fGCM assay was further validated by analysing samples from free-ranging leopards, as well. The fGCM levels (Mean±SE) were 10.45±2.01 and 0.95±0.003μg/g dry wt of feces in captive and free-ranging leopards, respectively. Our results demonstrated that fGCM levels of leopards in categories B and C were significantly (P<0.05) different from each other, thus, indicating cage size (an active enrichment element) as an important factor in influencing the physiology of the sampled animals. Overall, the findings of the study will contribute towards informing policies for management of the Indian leopards.

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