Assessing success of enrichment Flashcards
ASSESSING ANIMAL WELL-BEING IN ZOOS
Does the animal display species-typical behaviour? “The repertoire of behaviours that characterise how
a particular species behaves in the wild”
Does the animal display ‘abnormal’ or aberrant
behaviour? STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIOUR
STEREOTYPIC BEHAVIOUR
“A repetitive, invariant behaviour, which may be the
result of frustration, attempts to cope with
suboptimal environment, or a dysfunction of the
central nervous system” Indicates compromised well-being
Examples include:
Pacing
Head-shaking
Weaving
Self-mutilation
Rocking
Feather plucking
Bar-biting
Tail biting
Five Categories of Enrichment
- Food-based (centred on type & delivery of food)
- Physical (changes to structural environmentpermanent or temporary- or provision of objects to
manipulate) - Sensory (stimulates senses- what they see, hear, or
smell) - Social (interactions with other animals- same or
different species- or people) - Cognitive (problem solving tasks)
NON-INVASIVE BEHAVIOURAL RESEARCH WITH ANIMALS (NON-HUMAN)
- Behaviour is the most common measure for
exploring animal welfare and is widely used in zoo
research - Used to understand how an animal is coping with
life in the zoo and how it responds to its
environment - Many benefits to measuring behaviour:
–Easy to implement
–Inexpensive
–Non-invasive
To compare behaviour in zoo to what we know about
behaviour in wild we use:
- Published Activity Budgets (a quantitative
representation of proportion of time an animal
spends engaged in behaviour or activities as a guide for “normal behaviour” - Ethograms (a list of behaviours, with operational
definitions, observed in a species or group - Enclosure diagrams (to investigate how animals use
their enclosure or space)
Zoo animal response to unfamiliar people
Zoo visitors may be seen as:
* Enemy/predators
* Prey
* Symbiont (living together)
* Conspecific (same species)
* No consequence
Zoo visitors influence animals:
* Noise
* Numbers
* Harm
* influence in different ways (at exhibits,
behind-scenes tours)
Zoo animal response to familiar people
Zoo keepers have potential to be both more
enriching & more stressful than zoo visitors:
* Spend more time with animals
* Closer interactions
* Positive reinforcement training
Three levels of contact:
* Hands-off (limited interaction)
* Protected (mesh or fence in between)
* Hands-on (in with animal)
ZOO VISITOR RESEARCH IN ZOOS
Zoo visitors are important to zoos who need to
understand who they are & what satisfies them:
* Targets of zoo educational initiatives
* Primary funding source for zoo business &
conservation work
Zoos want to be ‘attractive’ & ‘appealing’ to visitors by:
* providing an experience consistent with
welfare, educational & conservation priorities
* But also be enjoyable & entertaining
Types of zoo visitor studies
- Baseline studies to find demographics of zoo
visitors- who comes to zoos? - Tracking studies- what do they do & where do
they go inside the zoo? - How visitor knowledge, attitudes, emotion &
behaviour change as a result of zoo visit
(general or specific; short & long-term) - Impact of different visitor experiences (close
encounter, keeper talk, viewing an exhibit) - Impact of different zoo campaigns
TYPES OF ZOO VISITOR EXPERIENCES
- Signage/educational material
- Touch tables
- Keeper talks at exhibits
- Animal feeding/enrichment/training
- Tours around zoo with volunteers
- Behind-the-scenes tours
- Close encounters with animals
IMPACT OF ZOOS ON VISITORS
- Increasing visitor knowledge
- Encouraging positive attitudes to animals and
conservation - Influencing emotions (positive & negative)
- Encouraging conservation behaviour change (to
be more sustainable in/outside zoo)
Learning at zoos
- Learning is influenced by many factors:
– Past learning experiences (cumulative)
– Education level
– Motivation for visit (education or
entertainment)
– Animal variables (e.g. visibility, activity)
– type of experience (e.g. exhibit or interactive)
VISITOR ATTITUDES
- Less understood than knowledge
- Some evidence to show attitudes are more
favourable after a zoo visit - Attitudes are influenced by many factors:
– Pre-existing attitudes (often already
positive towards animals & conservation)
– Knowledge about animals
– Motivation for visit (education or
entertainment)
VISITOR EMOTIONS
- Recently emerging as area of interest
- Learning needs an affective (emotional) aspect to
be most effective - Visitors experience a range of emotions:
– Happiness, peacefulness, worry, fear,
privilege - Emotions vary depending on species
- Not clear how this links to knowledge, attitudes &
behaviour
VISITOR BEHAVIOUR
Goal of zoos: encourage visitors to engage in pro-conservation behaviours after their visit
- Some support for behaviour change, but post-visit
studies are lacking - Greater focus on behavioural intention rather than
actual behaviour change - Influenced by various factors:
– Perceived ability to perform a behaviour
– Opportunity to perform a behaviour
– Socio-demographics
– Motivation to perform a behaviour
– Feelings of connectivity to nature
DEVELOPING VALID & RELIABLE MEASURES
Most studies rely on surveying visitors (self-report
questionnaires or interviews):
- Combination of questions used in published research
and new questions to suit the topic - Combination of different questions:
– Rating (Likert) scale
– Yes/no
– Open-ended - Demographic details (age, gender, etc.)
- May include observation of visitors to explore
behaviour in zoos (less common) –same principles as
animal behaviour studies (but potential Ethics issues)
STUDY DESIGNS FOR VISITOR RESEARCH
- Either within groups (same visitors ) or between groups
(different visitors) - Experimental if randomly allocating participants to
different groups & manipulating the Independent
Variable - One off survey or multiple surveying
– determining visitor characteristics = one off
– Determining differences between different groups of
visitors = one off
– Determining change in visitor variables = multiple surveys
(e.g., pre/post design; e.g. to see if change in
knowledge/attitudes/behaviour after taking part in a
tour)
DATA ANALYSIS FOR VISITOR STUDIES
- more acceptable to use parametric tests than in
animal research (more participants) - Sample principles same as other research in
Psychology:
– Descriptive statistics (percentages/frequencies) for
demographic data
– t-tests for differences within and between
individuals
– ANOVAs for differences between multiple conditions
– Regression analyses for predictions
– Correlations for relationships
Benefits for animals in zoos
- Free from predators
- Shelter
- Regular food
- Regular health checks
- Longer lifespan (typically)
Limitations for animals in zoos
- Space restrictions
- No live prey
(illegal!)/less foraging - Reduced choice/control
- Regular presence of
people
Four goals of modern zoos
Conservation
Education
Entertainment
Research
RESEARCH IN ZOOS
- Designed to fill gaps in our knowledge about a range
of issues - Draws on various fields, including Psychology
- Similar to conducting any other type of research
- Some challenges due to the unique environment (not
a ‘controlled’ laboratory environment)
BEHAVIOURAL RESEARCH IN ZOOS
NON-INVASIVE behavioural studies with focus on
improving well-being of captive animals:
* Baseline studies to understand what animals do
and how they behave
- Exploring how animals interact with each other
- Monitoring the impact of different
housing/husbandry routines - Testing the influence/effectiveness of enrichment
items/techniques (relevant to your assignment!) - Investigating the impact of people on animal
welfare/well-being
Observe behaviour:
* Why do animals behave the way they do?
* How do they acquire resources & avoid danger?
* Do they have individual traits & personalities?
* How can we improve their welfare & well-being?
Why is it important to evaluate enrichment projects?
- may be ineffective and waste time and
resources or even be harmful to the animals
involved (e.g. some animals may become
stressed or aggression may increase in a group
of animals) - safety issues for people (staff/visitors)
- may be unpopular with zoo visitors
What is effective enrichment?
- must be tailored to suit each individual animal
- Sometimes only the dominant individual(s) access
enrichment - Should not be predictable (e.g. fixed schedules of
reinforcement) - Must be safe for animal(e.g. not a choking hazard)
- Must be safe for zoo workers and visitors
- Cost effective & easy to clean, fill with food
- part of an holistic approach to welfare and wellbeing
Enrichment categories
Social
Cognitive
Physical habitat
Sensory
Food
Food enrichment
- most widely used method of enrichment
- animals need food to survive & more likely to interact
- aim is to prolong feeding times
- easiest way- dividing daily diet into 3 or 4 feeds
- leave fruit & vegetables whole & throw them onto
roof so animals have to pull the food through mesh - cut food pieces very small or use nuts & seeds &
scatter through enclosure so animals forage through
substrate (scatter feed) - hide food in boxes or paper sacks & hang them from
pulley systems & wires or trees - problem-solving task with food as reinforcer
Cognitive enrichment
- includes novel objects that occupy an animal’s time
- Boomer balls, Kong toys, tyres, cardboard tubes & fire
hoses - provides & enhances mental stimulation
- can use puzzle feeders where food is hidden in
different ways & inside different objects - animals use problem-solving skills to access food
Sensory enrichment
- can use 5 senses: sight, sound, touch, smell & taste
- most common is olfactory enrichment (sense of smell)
- herbs & spices, perfume & deodorant, catnip or even
toothpaste or mouthwash can be dotted around exhibit - usually induces extra scent marking from animals
reaffirming their territory boundaries
Social enrichment
- house animals of different species with others that
they could encounter in the wild (mixed-species
exhibits) - increased flock size for flamingos (can use mirrors to
do this)
Physical habitat
- important role in animal welfare by meeting
physical requirements & providing a positive
environment - adapt & utilise physical space for enrichment
- hide food within spaces in enclosures,
incorporate more objects to encourage natural
behaviours, & develop and enhance space by
providing mental stimulation - ‘furniture’ in enclosure
- Usable space/microclimates (temperature)
- Visual barriers
- Expensive to rebuilt enclosures
HOW TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENRICHMENT TECHNIQUE(S)
NEED SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION OF BEHAVIOURAL DATA
- Quantitative behavioural measurements provide
evidence of behavioural changes - Report findings including failures!
Reversal design:
A1BA2B research design (experiment)
* A1 = Baseline 1 (record behaviour)
* B = Treatment (introduce enrichment &
record behaviour)
* A2 = Baseline 2 (remove enrichment & record
behaviour)
* B = Treatment (reintroduce enrichment &
record behaviour)
Sometimes not ethical to remove treatment.
ASSESSING HOW SEVERE OR SERIOUS STEREOTYPIC OR
‘ABNORMAL’ BEHAVIOR IS
(1) What is the FORM of the behavior?
* pacing is less severe than head-twisting
* self-directed behaviours (e.g. self-harm) are more
severe than behaviours directed at the
environment (e.g. destroying part of enclosure)
(2) What % OF THE DAY is spent engaged in the behavior?
* If more than 10% of animal’s day is spent engaged
in ‘abnormal’ behaviour it is considered
unacceptable
(3) How easily can the animal be DISTRACTED from
performing the behavior?
* Less severe if the animal is easily distracted from the
behaviour
* More severe if the animal is less aware of the
surroundings
(4) Is there an obvious REASON for the behavior?
* pacing just before feeding at the entrance/door is
less severe (i.e. anticipatory behaviour)
* If there is no obvious reason, it is more severe
(5) Is it really a PROBLEM?
* The behavior occurs instead of ‘normal’ behavior
* There is reduced behavioural diversity
ETHOGRAMS
AND ACTIVITY BUDGETS OF ‘WILD’ ANIMALS
These provide a guide to ‘normal’ or ‘species-specific’
behavior & time spent engaged in behaviour
SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION OF BEHAVIOURAL DATA
DEVELOP ETHOGRAM: DEFINE BEHAVIOURAL CATEGORIES
Describe behaviour by:
* form/structure (e.g. ‘run tip of bill along primary
feathers’), or consequences (e.g. ‘preen’).
Operational definitions:
- written definitions for every category of behaviour on a
data sheet.
Choosing categories: - categories should be independent of each other. All
behaviours included in a particular category should be
homogeneous (or the same/similar); - there may already be an ethogram to use or adapt.
WHO TO WATCH & WHEN (SAMPLING RULE for recording behaviour)
Focal animal sampling:
* common sampling rule for zoo animal studies
- observe one individual for a specified length of time.
HOW TO RECORD BEHAVIOUR (RECORDING RULE for recording behaviour)
Instantaneous time sampling:
* dividing session into short successive intervals of time
(sample intervals)
- at end of each sample interval (sample point) record
behaviour that is occurring (beeper or timer goes off). - measure or score you obtain not a true frequency or
duration - Provides a ‘snap shot’ of behaviour.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS for systematic collection of behavioural data
- Become familiar with the focal animal
- Become familiar with the behaviour of the animal
- Become familiar with the enclosure
Alternative origin of classical conditioning
Edwin Twitmyer tested the knee‐jerk reflexes of college students by sounding a bell half a second before hitting the patellar tendon. After repeatedly doing this, he found that the sound of the bell alone caused the knee‐jerk reflex. In 1904, Twitmyer presented his findings at the American Psychological Association meeting, where it drew no interest.
