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Dogs are often referred to as "human's best friend," with many households in the United Kingdom and worldwide including a dog. Yet, whilst research highlights the myriad of human health benefits associated with canine companionship, many dogs are relinquished, or euthanized, for purported behavioral problems. A key behavior often cited in these situations is Reactivity, despite a lack of consensus in the literature (or in the lay population) as to exactly what is encompassed within this term. Resultantly, this paper reports on an online survey to investigate how the term Reactivity is understood by humans. Following the completion of a thematic analysis, six sub-themes were developed, forming three overarching theme clusters, namely; Canine Characteristics, The Importance of Human Perception and Human Capability. In sum, this research highlights the complex, nuanced and, sometimes, contradictory nature of understanding around the label of Reactivity, encompassing both canine and human factors. As such, conclusions include the proposal of a preliminary Perceived Reactivity Framework to conceptualize this seemingly multi-faceted concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education to improve knowledge of animal welfare is not a universal component of training for zoo staff, and little is reported about the perspectives of zoo staff on the need for such education. This paper reports results from structured telephone interviews of a diverse sample of eight Chinese and eight European zoo staff about aspects of zoological animal welfare, education and zoological practices. These qualitative data were thematically analyzed and key themes generated. Similar themes emerged across regions: Zoo staff consider professional attributes including motivation and enthusiasm to be important alongside formal training, zoo staff value learning opportunities but don't always feel supported, and contextual information including wild animal ecology was considered important content in zoo animal welfare education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macduff Marine Aquarium is a native species aquarium situated on the Moray Firth coastline and houses the curled octopus, Eledone cirrhosa, for public display. Historically, the designated octopus display tank has been in-keeping with the overall theme of the aquarium, consisting of artificially created rock work mimicking the local rocky coastline, within an angular glass tank. This tank was not originally designed for housing octopus and as a consequence, if individuals on display exhibited jetting behavior mantle abrasion occurred. In 2016, a new bespoke octopus tank was designed and installed. Since then 14 different octopuses have been individually housed and maintained within the tank, with none having experienced mantle abrasion. This paper highlights the importance of aquarium design for the ethical maintenance of an intelligent and challenging species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticipatory behavior describes the actions taken to prepare for an upcoming event. It is considered a promising tool for welfare assessment, but it is not fully applied in zoos and other facilities. This is probably due to the need to train animals, which can take a long time and make its use impractical. In this work, we tested, on a group of six dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), the effectiveness of a new technique to induce and measure anticipatory behavior without training animals. Our results show how this new methodology, which we called The Fast Technique (TFT), has been able to induce and measure anticipatory behavior toward the event studied, i.e., the play sessions with objects (PSO). Furthermore, it has produced the same result obtained with The Classical Technique (TCT), which requires a training phase. Therefore, our finding demonstrates the efficacy of a new technique that could facilitate the use of anticipatory behavior for both research and animal welfare assessment protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment evaluated the effect of light manipulation on the behavior and welfare of broilers using 280-day-old Arbor-Acre chicks, which were weighed and assigned to 7 treatments having 4 replicates and 10 birds per replicate. The light treatments were as follows: white light (WH), blue light (BL), green (GR), blue light switched to green light at 14 days (2BG), green light switched to blue at 14 days (2GB), blue light switched to green light at 28 days (4BG), and green light switched to blue light at 28 days (4GB). Feeding, drinking, resting, standing, walking, foraging and preening behaviors were observed using the scan sampling method. Behavior and welfare parameters such as footpad dermatitis and hock burn were evaluated and analyzed in a Completely Randomized Design. The results showed that feeding behavior of birds of BL, 2BG, and 2GB treatment groups was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than those of WH and GR at the starter phase. At the finisher phase, resting behavior of birds of 4GB was similar to those of 2GB but higher than those of the other treatments. It was concluded that switching of light from green to blue (4GB) at four weeks of age fostered ideal behavior and stimulated growth in broilers but had no effect on welfare parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the level of care dogs received from their caretakers and the attitudes of caretakers and non-caretakers toward dogs on the islands of Guam and Saipan. Surveys were collected from residents of Guam and Saipan (274 and 275, respectively) and analyzed using chi-squared tests. Dogs were the most popular companion animal (Guam 66.4%; Saipan 72% ownership) with a strong preference toward pedigree, male puppies (Guam 45.4%; Saipan 62.4%). The more preferred dogs were housed inside and fed dog food, while the less preferred local mixed-breed dogs were free-roaming and fed table scraps. Fifty-nine per cent of caretakers in Saipan and 22.8% of caretakers in Guam had never provided veterinary care to their dog. Generally, caretakers on both islands did not sterilize their dogs, which may result in the potential for unplanned litters and a growth in the dog population. Residents of both islands reported witnessing abusive acts toward dogs, despite dogs being reported as having an important role on the island. This paper aims to identify challenges in dog welfare and management options for the stray population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elephant tourism in Thailand has developed into an important socio-economic factor after a logging ban initiated in 1989 resulted in thousands of out-of-work elephants. However, the welfare of captive elephants has been a topic of intense debate among tourists, scientists and stakeholders because of the range of working conditions and management practices to which they are exposed. The aim of this paper is to summarize the current state of knowledge on captive elephant welfare, with an emphasis on tourist elephants in Thailand, and highlight information gaps and recommendations for future directions. Tourist-oriented elephant camps could improve the welfare of elephants through better management practices that take into account physiological and psychological needs of individual animals, including meeting social and nutritional requirements, providing good health care, and maintaining adequate facilities. Our goal is to develop science-based guidelines that government agencies can use to develop an enforceable set of practical regulations to ensure good management of tourist elephants in Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Captive animal welfare research focuses on husbandry, enrichment, enclosure space, visitor effects, and opportunities for species-typical behavior (e.g., foraging, territoriality, and social interaction). And yet, one of the most biologically relevant opportunities for species-typical behavior, parenting, has received little attention. The goal of this longitudinal investigation was to explore the differential variability of repetitive behavior across three parenting conditions (i.e., No parenting, parenting, and foster parenting) among captive, wild-rescued, North American river otters. This study represents anatural ABAC design, the conditions reflect differential parenting phases: No parenting (A), Parenting biological pups (B), and Alloparenting nonbiological pups (C). The behavior of two adult North American river otters at the Oregon Zoo were observed from April2016 through March2020 during the different parenting contexts. The frequency of repetitive behaviors was lowest during parenting and highest during the non-parenting conditions. Although data for season, weather, and visitor variables were also collected throughout this study; parenting condition was the only consistent moderator of abnormal repetitive behavior observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an investigation to determine perceptions, awareness, and knowledge of the unwanted horse population in Illinois from the viewpoint of horse owners, non-horse owners, and equine industry stakeholders. A questionnaire included items that pertained to knowledge of current legislation, equine background, current methods of controlling the unwanted horse population, and methods that respondents believe would reduce the unwanted horse population in Illinois. Results indicated that 58% of horse owners viewed horses as companion animals. Respondents perceived financial hardship to be the major reason why horses become unwanted. Current methods of managing unwanted horse populations were found to be ineffective. Reducing the costs of euthanasia and carcass disposal, allowing processing facilities to reopen in Illinois, and increasing the availability of gelding programs emerged as the most effective ways to manage the unwanted horse population. Results of this survey may lead to greater awareness of the unwanted horse population in Illinois. Furthermore, these results may lead to discussions about future legislation in the State designed to support and manage unwanted horses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian elephants and humans have long shared their lives, but recent changes in human perspectives on animal use have created ripples through the small country of Nepal. Captive elephants are caught in the crossfire between local communities, elephant owners, mahouts, and NGOs in debates over their treatment, health, welfare and use in tourism. In addition, zoonotic disease, natural disasters and political strife affect the lives of captive elephants and mahouts. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, elephants, caregivers and owners found themselves facing income loss, decreased welfare from housing and husbandry issues, and food shortages. Many owners sold elephants, fired mahouts, and "quit" the tourism industry. Others sought help from outside organizations, community members, and governmental agencies to retain ownership of what they viewed as valuable commodities. NGOs and grassroots organizations assisted in the hopes of keeping elephants in Nepal, thus preventing them from long, treacherous walks across the border and into situations where they might face further welfare decreases. This article combines elephant stable visits and interviews with mahouts, owners, NGO, and government staff between January 2019 and December 2021. It highlights the ongoing health and welfare challenges faced by elephants and mahouts in Nepal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal welfare consideration and actions are generally addressed to animals similar to us, predominantly large mammals. Invertebrates are neglected partly because they are unknown, though new exploration of the oceans has helped with this. Also, we know little about their ecology and welfare. This is gradually changing, and the octopuses are likely to be the first beneficiaries. Scientists are finding that cephalopods are far more intelligent than we thought, with the Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness suggesting they might possess this quality of mind. Partly as a result, the European Union has described and demanded good care for cephalopods such as the octopus in captivity. Public opinion has been swayed to approval by anecdotes of octopuses doing unusual actions, and by several recent books pointing out interesting and intelligent behavior of cephalopods. Aquariums have begun to feature octopuses for them. With this progress, welfare of invertebrate animals has begun to matter. While the octopuses will be the first animal group to benefit, they may pave the way for us to see that different does not mean unworthy of regard and welfare consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rehabilitant Malayan sun bears often remain in captivity for long periods of time and may experience significant welfare challenges including disability and persistent lip lesions. This study aimed to investigate whether short-term observations of behavior such as oral stereotypies are useful as noninvasive indicators of lip lesion pain, and whether behavior differs between able-bodied and disabled bears. Observations were collected from 21 captive, rehabilitant Malayan sun bears, of both sexes, a range of ages, and with lip lesions ranging in severity. Some also had disabilities. Oral stereotypy frequency was unrelated to lip lesion severity (p > 0.05), and no relationships with other behaviors were found; however, visual disabilities had significant effects on behavior. For example, visually disabled bears walked more than able-bodied bears (p = 0.003) or those with physical disabilities (p = 0.01). Further research on the feeding behavior of bears suffering from lip lesions may elucidate other potential behavioral indicators of pain. Researching effects of visual disabilities in bears with a larger sample size is also recommended to determine generalizable impacts in affected individuals and resulting welfare implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harbor seals in the wild live in a stimulating environment; therefore, nonhuman-animal caretakers have increasingly been using environmental enrichment to improve the well being of seals under human care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an object-based environmental enrichment program during a four-month period on stimulating exploration and play and improving conspecific social interactions and human–animal relationships (HAR). Zoo staff conducted the environmental enrichment program as part of the animal care program. Seals were given objects haphazardly and were observed for 20 minutes, and seals' responsiveness during training sessions before and after enrichment was assessed. Seals showed interest in objects throughout the study and interacted more times per session with objects during the later months. Seals showed preferences for objects that were suspended in the water column (e.g., rope). Seals did not show more affiliative behavior but did show some aggressive behavior during enrichment sessions in comparison with free-swimming sessions. One seal showed better responsiveness to trainers in training sessions that followed an enrichment session than in other trainings sessions. Overall, the enrichment program was successful in increasing intrinsically motivated behaviors and showed that object-based enrichment has the potential to improve HAR between seals and their trainers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabbits are usually singly housed in laboratories, but a new emphasis on providing social housing for social species has prompted exploration of alternative housing for this species. However, a paucity of literature on the social behavior of rabbits in captivity has prevented scientific-based recommendations for appropriate housing. This study involved a descriptive analysis of the social behavior of rabbit bucks in the laboratory in 3 different housing situations: in groups in pens, in pairs in cages, and singly in cages. Based on study observations and the natural history of wild rabbits, bucks engage in affiliative social behaviors, but current caging may not allow for the expression of species-typical behaviors, thereby resulting in continued aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feline environmental enrichment can prevent numerous disorders including anxiety, stress, obesity, and feline idiopathic cystitis. Despite its easy implementation and low cost, it has received little attention. The main goal of this study was to assess guardians' knowledge concerning feline environmental enrichment and husbandry practices. A questionnaire was given to 130 companion animal guardians at the Lisbon Veterinary Faculty's Teaching Hospital. The applications of 22 environmental enrichment measures related to food/water, litter box, and space/entertainment areas were evaluated. The majority of the households studied (74.6%) had a moderately enriched environment. Hygiene-related measures were those most adopted by guardians, while those requiring guardians' commitment or previous awareness were the least implemented. A rating scale was proposed and applied to assess feline domestic environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor access is often cited as a critical component of appropriate housing for great apes in captivity, and although studies have shown that offering primates choices can improve welfare, choice to access specific areas has been empirically neglected. Behavioral data were collected on chimpanzees and gorillas housed in naturalistic enclosures while (a) restricted to an indoor enclosure and (b) permitted free access to an adjacent outdoor area. To isolate the factor of choice, only the sessions in which apes remained indoors were compared. With choice, chimpanzees showed more frequent social,F(1, 5) = 20.526,p= .006, and self-directed behaviors,F(1, 5) = 13.507,p= .014, and lower inactivity levels,F(1, 5) = 9.239,p= .029. Gorillas were more frequently inactive,F(1, 8) = 22.259,p= .002, and produced lower levels of object manipulation,F(1, 8) = 8.243,p= .021, and feeding,F(1, 8) = 5.407,p= .049. Results are consistent with an association between choice and the expression of species-typical and arousal behaviors in chimpanzees. The effects are less evident in gorillas, but this outcome may be buffered by the species' lower motivation to utilize the outdoor spaces. Findings highlight species-specific reactions to access to choice that may offer insight for enclosure design, management, and nonhuman animal welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]