Enrichment in zoos Flashcards
Four goals of modern zoos
Conservation, Education, Entertainment and Research
_______ = compromised well-being.
Stereotypic behaviour
Five categories of enrichment
Food-based, Physical, Sensory, Social, Cognitive
_______ a quantitative representation of proportion of time an animal spends engaged in behaviour or activities - as a guide for “normal behaviour”
Published Activity Budgets
A list of behaviours, with operational definitions, observed in a species or group
Ethograms
______ - used to investigate how animals use their enclosure or space
Enclosure diagrams
______ - used to collect systematic data on behaviour & location
Data collection sheets
________ is the most common measure for exploring animal welfare and is widely used in zoo research
Behaviour
The repertoire of behaviours that characterise how a particular species behaves in “the wild”
Species-typical behaviour
Abnormal or aberrant behaviour - Unusual or rare behaviour that might be
pathological”
Stereotypic behaviour
Types of stereotypic behaviour
Examples include:
* Pacing, Head-shaking
* Weaving, Self-mutilation
* Rocking, Feather plucking
* Bar-biting, Tail biting
Benefits to measuring behaviour
–Easy to implement
–Inexpensive
–Non-invasive
Three levels of familiar (zoo-keeper) contact
- Hands-off (limited interaction)
- Protected (mesh or fence in between)
- Hands-on (in with animal)
Study design for same visitors in the zoo
Within groups
Study design for different visitors in the zoo
Between groups
Most studies rely on ______ visitors for developing valid and reliable measures
Surveying - self report questionnaires and surveys
Quantitative behavioural measurements provide evidence of ___________ changes
Behavioural
Report findings including ________!
Failures
ABAB 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)
Assessing how severe or serious stereotypic or ‘abnormal’ behaviour is - 5 questions
- What is the FORM of the behaviour?
- What % OF THE DAY is spent engaged in the behaviour?
- How easily can the animal be DISTRACTED from performing the behaviour?
- Is there an obvious REASON for the behaviour?
- Is it really a PROBLEM?
Written definitions for every category of behaviour on a
data sheet.
Operational definitions
Categories should be _________ of each other. All
behaviours included in a particular category should be
_________ (or the same/similar)
Independent, homogeneous
Sampling rule:
* common sampling rule for zoo animal studies
* observe one individual for a specified length of time.
Focal animal sampling
Recording rule:
* 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).
Instantaneous time sampling
Spending time informally observing the animals &
practice recording methods
Preliminary observations
________ occurs when simply performing a behaviour increases the probability that the behaviour will occur again
Intrinsic reinforcement
________ occurs when the performance of behavior results in a consequence that is
external to the behaviour itself and increases the likelihood that the behaviour will recur
Extrinsic reinforcement
“Response decrement
as a result of repeated stimulation’’
Habituation
______ occurs when reinforcement is no longer provided for a behaviour, resulting in a
decrease in the performance of the behaviour
Extinction
