scholarly journals Zoo Visitor Attitudes Are More Influenced by Animal Behaviour than Environmental Enrichment Appearance

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1971
Author(s):  
Marina Salas ◽  
Daan W. Laméris ◽  
Arno Depoortere ◽  
Lise Plessers ◽  
Jonas Verspeek
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Lemur Catta ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Visitor Experiences ◽  
In Captivity

Decisions on environmental enrichment programmes are sometimes based on the assumption that non-natural or artificial looking items negatively affect visitor experiences. In this study, we developed a questionnaire to assess zoo visitor attitudes towards enrichment appearance in an outdoor walk-through enclosure for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Naturalistic and artificial looking enrichment items were alternately provided in the enclosure. A total of 371 visitors filled out the questionnaire: 174 in the naturalistic and 197 in the artificial conditions. Both researchers and visitors conducted behavioural observations of the lemurs. Our results suggest that the appearance of the items did not have an effect on visitor attitudes and that visitors recognised both naturalistic and artificial items as enriching for the animals. Moreover, the behaviour and visibility of the lemurs had a greater effect on the visitors’ attitudes. We suggest that during the design of enrichment items, less concern should be placed on the appearance of the items and more on their effect on animal behaviour. Ultimately, this would improve both animal welfare in captivity and the visitor experience.

The use of environmental enrichment on farms benefits animal welfare and productivity

Livestock ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-188
Author(s):  
Sarah L Bolt ◽  
Adam J George
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Production Animals ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Housing Facilities

Environmental enrichment is a key aspect of animal welfare and productivity. Enrichment for livestock can be cost effective and used successfully on farm. The benefits generally outweigh any costs of providing enrichment and it should be taken into account when providing housing facilities for farm animals. It also reduces abnormal behaviours commonly seen in production animals, thus decreasing issues associated with poor animal health. The aim of this review is to summarise information and research that highlights the importance of understanding farm animal behaviour and indicates how enrichment will benefit the welfare and productivity of livestock.

scholarly journals Does an Animal–Visitor Interactive Experience Drive Conservation Action?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-486
Author(s):  
Courtney Keane Collins ◽  
Sean McKeown ◽  
Ruth O’Riordan
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Panthera Tigris ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
High Level ◽  
Interactive Experience

Inspiring visitors to engage in conservation-related behaviour following a zoo visit is a primary objective for most zoos. Animal–visitor interactive (AVI) experiences are often central to this goal. Yet, these interactive experiences are insufficiently evaluated from both the visitors’ and captive animals’ perspectives. The current study took place at Fota Wildlife Park and involved the construction of an environmental enrichment device during an interactive visitor experience with Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae). It aimed to simultaneously encourage pro-conservation behaviour in visitors and promote animal welfare. Visitors (n = 51) completed a survey, observed the tigers’ behaviour and made a pledge to help tigers in the wild after completion of the AVI. Tiger behaviour was simultaneously observed by a trained researcher using occurrence or non-occurrence sampling, which found no indication that tiger welfare was compromised during the activity and was likely enhanced by engaging with the enrichment. Additionally, visitors observed a range of tigers’ behaviours. The results indicated that some visitors (8%) had continued with their pledge six weeks after the experience, and most visitors exhibited a high level of knowledge and a positive attitude towards tigers. The use of enrichment during AVIs may be a positive link between the visitor experience and animal welfare. These results can be used to guide AVIs in zoos which aim to connect people with nature and drive pro-conservation behaviour in visitors.

scholarly journals Animal welfare and environmental enrichment in the domestic breeding and ornamental rearing of geese and mallards

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
Luiza Isaia de Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Bird Breeding ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The Right

The concept of animal welfare has been widely studied and discussed in recent years. This is a science, which seeks an improvement in the quality of life of animals, ensuring that they have the right to their 5 basic freedoms respected. Animal welfare practices seek to have animals express their natural behavior, even when they are in captivity, ensuring their physical and psychological health. Such techniques help in the adaptation of the animal to the environment, especially in captive animals and in breeding. There is a direct relationship between the implementation of animal welfare practices and the ability of them to adapt and have a good quality of life in the environment in which it was inserted. The growing increase in ornamental bird breeding and as pets has revealed the need to study and ensure welfare practices in the rearing of these animals. One of the techniques used to ensure animal welfare is the implementation of different types of environmental enrichments. Environmental enrichment seeks through different techniques and materials to provide more attractive and stimulating environments to animals, allowing interaction between animals and animal-environment, enabling them to enjoy and explore the environment, optimizing the available spaces, providing opportunities for the development of behaviors and natural abilities of the species, reducing the stress caused by space limitation and absence of stimuli. The objective of this work was to relate animal welfare in the implementation of environmental enrichment in two breeding stake of geese and mallards, one for ornamental and domestic purposes, birds being reared as pets. In particular describe the creation, report the implementation of three types of environmental enrichment: food, physical and social, and response of birds after the implementation of this technique of animal welfare promotion. The results of the implementation of food, physical and social environmental enrichment, to improve the well-being of birds, were verified in both breedings, obtaining a positive result. There was an improvement in the behavior of the animals, which is closer to the natural in both groups, attesting to improvement in quality of life and providing physical and psychological well-being to birds.

Moral tensions for elephant visitors.

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-110
Author(s):  
Anja Pabel ◽  
Mucha Mkono
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Animal Ethics ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Visitor Experiences ◽  
Nature Park ◽  
Distance Interaction

Abstract The study presented in this chapter examines visitor experiences at elephant sanctuaries in an era where animal ethics has taken centre stage. The study unpacks the moral tensions surrounding such attractions through analysis of social media comments by visitors. Based on this study a framework is proposed that encompasses three moral tensions that relate to animal welfare and the operations of animal sanctuaries, from the viewpoint of the visitor experience: (i) freedom-captivity; (ii) distance-interaction; and (iii) natural-staged. The chapter draws on two case studies: the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) in Kenya, and the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) in Thailand.

The effects of environmental and visitor variables on the behavior of free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in captivity

Zoo Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 250-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Collins ◽  
Ilse Corkery ◽  
Amy Haigh ◽  
Sean McKeown ◽  
Thomas Quirke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lemur Catta ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Free Ranging

Augmented reality application in visitor experiences in nature-based tourism.

2021 ◽  
pp. 118-130
Author(s):  
Azizul Hassan ◽  
Haywantee Ramkissoon
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Natural World ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Heritage Site ◽  
Visitor Experiences ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Sundarbans

Abstract This chapter analyses the conceptual understanding of visitor experience in a nature-based tourism context with particular reference to augmented reality (AR) applications. Critical explanation is offered to outline the ways in which to apply AR in nature-based tourism settings. The Sundarbans forest in Bangladesh, where there was a devastating oil spill in the Sundarbans Natural World Heritage Site in 2014, is the case study example used in this chapter. The potential importance of AR as a tool to protect the forest's natural fragility is discussed and highlighted. Combining the real and virtual image of the forest is proposed in a management tool to mitigate tourists' negative impacts, protecting the resources for present and future generations and improving visitor experiences.

The future of visitor experiences in nature-based tourism.

2021 ◽  
pp. 205-212
Author(s):  
Julia N. Albrecht
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Visitor Experiences ◽  
The Future ◽  
Changing World

Abstract This chapter uses the learnings gleaned from the contributions in this book to construct a platform from which to embark on future research that adequately addresses nature-based visitor experiences in a rapidly changing world. The chapter addresses two questions: (1) What does the future hold for nature-based experiences in tourism. (2) And what does management for the future nature-based visitor experience look like?

Using principles from behavioural ecology to address animal welfare issues.

2021 ◽  
pp. 225-240
Author(s):  
Gareth Arnott ◽  
Victoria E. Lee ◽  
Simon P. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Research Fields

Abstract Behavioural ecologists and animal welfare scientists both study animal behaviour but from different angles. This chapter discusses how these two research fields differ, and how they can support each other.

scholarly journals A Preliminary Study Investigating the Impact of Musical Concerts on the Behavior of Captive Fiordland Penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) and Collared Peccaries (Pecari tajacu)

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2035
Author(s):  
Lara Fanning ◽  
Hannah Larsen ◽  
Peta S. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Anthropogenic Noise ◽  
Pecari Tajacu ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Captive Animal

Captive animal welfare is important for establishments that exhibit species for education, conservation, and research. However, captive animals are often exposed to a number of potential stressors, such as visitors and anthropogenic noise. We aimed to identify the impact of a concert series on the behaviour of Fiordland penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus; n = 2), and solitary- (n = 1) or group- (n = 4)-housed collared peccaries (Pecari tajacu). Animal behaviour, visitor density, and visitor behaviour was monitored pre-concert (afternoons; 16:00–19:00), during the concert (evenings; 19:00–21:00), and post-concert (nights; 21:00–00:00) on concert days (penguin n = 7 days; peccary n = 8 days) and in the same periods on days when there was no concert (penguin n = 8 days; peccary n = 6 days). Fiordland penguins spent more time surface swimming and diving in the pool on concert afternoons and evenings (all p < 0.001), more time in the nest on concert nights (p < 0.001), preened less on concert afternoons and nights (p = 0.019), and engaged with their habitat less on concert evenings and nights (p = 0.002) compared to these periods on days without a concert. The group-housed peccaries slept more in the afternoon and evening (p ≤ 0.01) and were more vigilant at night (p = 0.009) on concert days compared to no-concert days. The solitary-housed peccary slept more on concert nights (p = 0.035), rested more frequently across all time periods on concert days (p < 0.001), and used the front of the enclosure more across all concert time periods (p < 0.001) compared to no-concert days. We provide evidence that behaviour was altered on event days; however, we cannot determine the nature of these changes. Further research is needed to understand the impact of music concerts on zoo animal welfare.

scholarly journals Grooming Device Effects on Behaviour and Welfare of Japanese Black Fattening Cattle

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeru Ninomiya
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Time Budgets ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Exact Probability ◽  
Z Value ◽  
Mean Time

In livestock farming, a stark or barren environment compromises animal welfare. Environmental enrichment has been used to address the issue. For this study, after fattening cattle were provided with a grooming device (a brush), its effect on animal self-grooming and welfare were investigated. For Research trial 1 and 2, respectively, 28 and 11 Japanese Black steers were observed. Three or four of the animals were group-housed in a pen. For Trial 1, half of the animals were provided with a brush. The animals’ behaviour, carcass weight, and Viscera disease were recorded. Enrichment animals (E) performed self-grooming and scratching of the animals’ body on the brush and pen structures more than control animals (C) did (mean time budgets, 3.34% (SD = 2.48) in E and 0.89% (SD = 0.81) in C, GLMM, z value = 8.28, p < 0.001). The number of animals in which viscera disease was detected after slaughter was lower in E than in C (E = 0, C = 4, a Fisher’s exact probability test, p = 0.03). In Trial 2, brush use behaviour was observed continuously for 72 h. The observation revealed that the animals scratched various body parts on the brush. Results show that providing a brush as environmental enrichment improves welfare by satisfying the motivation of fattening cattle to perform self-grooming.

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