Husbandry & Management

Includes refinements to diet, bedding or flooring, cage changing, lighting, temperature, noise levels, etc.

van Es, J., Zandleven, A. 2023. A UV lamp for birds. RATEL (Journal of the Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers) 50(3-4), 4-7.

For birds, access to direct sunlight (without the use of glass) is very important. If that cannot be achieved in captivity, then at the very least ensure provision of the right UV lamp. Appropriate UV...

Rezende, Y. G. de A., Queiroz, M. B., Young, R. J. et al. 2023. Behavioural effects of noise on Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) in a walk-through enclosure. Animal Welfare 32, e40.

Anthropogenic noise has been related to stress in captive animals; despite this there have been few studies on animal welfare assessment in walk-through zoo enclosures. We aimed to investigate the behavioural effects of noise on...

Quintanilla, B., Diana, A., Salas, M. 2023. Enhancing welfare in a mixed exhibit: The impact of dispersed whole food on activity levels and feeding behaviours of Mexican military macaws and red-billed curassows. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 1

Presenting chopped food in a bowl is a traditional feeding technique in zoos worldwide. However, it may not provide sufficient stimulation for many species to satisfy their behavioural needs. Recent studies suggest that dispersing food...

Kleinlugtenbelt, C., Clauss, M., Burkevica, A. et al. 2023. Fasted and furious? Considerations on the use of fasting days in large carnivore husbandry. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(3), 318–323.

Many large mammalian terrestrial carnivores do not hunt every day in their natural habitats, because given the right prey, they can gorge-feed more than their daily energy and nutrient requirements. At the same time, there...

Depauw, S., Verbist, L., Stevens, J. et al. 2023. Feeding management of giraffe towards positive welfare. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(4), 400–413.

This study prioritised positive affective states while modifying the feeding management of five giraffes at Zoo Planckendael and monitored the impact on indicators of both negative and positive welfare. Observations were conducted day and night...

Ciupa, J. 2023. The hard-hitting tooth—Does a scheduled teeth check reduce the number of mice found dead with malocclusion? Animal Technology and Welfare 22(3), 240–241.

Malocclusion is evident around the first 2-5 weeks of age for mice (NC3Rs, 2021). Therefore, it is hypothesised that a regular welfare check, the POST WEAN CHECK (PWC) at 5 weeks would: - significantly increase...

Bigiani, S., Pil, C. 2023. Know when you are on a break: Effects of predictable breaks on bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus behaviours. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 11(3), 311–317.

Under human care, dolphins’ activities are alternated with moments of breaks that should allow them to behave as they want. However, scheduled activities such as training, feeding and playing with objects can affect dolphins’ behaviours...

Barrett, L., Maloney, S. K., Blache, D. 2023. Pekin ducks are motivated to lay in their preferred nest substrate. Animal Welfare 32, e28.

Nest design is one factor contributing to floor-laying in farmed poultry. We investigated: (i) if ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) prefer a particular nest substrate; and (ii) how important that preference is to them, indicated by stress-induced...

Bandeli, M., Mellor, E. L., Kroshko, J. et al. 2023. The welfare problems of wide-ranging Carnivora reflect naturally itinerant lifestyles. Royal Society Open Science 10, 230437.

Carnivora with naturally small home ranges readily adjust tothe evolutionarily new environment of captivity, but wider-ranging species seem prone to stress. Understanding why wouldadvance both collection planning and enclosure design. Wetherefore investigated which aspects of...

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