Abstract
Locating a vocalizing animal can be useful in many fields of bioacoustics and behavioral research, and is often done in the wild, covering large areas. In zoos, however, the application of this method becomes particularly difficult, because, on the one hand, the animals are in a relatively small area and, on the other hand, reverberant environments and background noise complicate the analysis. Nevertheless, by localizing and analyzing animal sounds, valuable information on physiological state, sex, subspecies, reproductive state, social status, and animal welfare can be gathered. Therefore, we developed a sound localization software that is able to estimate the position of a vocalizing animal precisely, making it possible to assign the vocalization to the corresponding individual, even under difficult conditions. In this study, the accuracy and reliability of the software is tested under various conditions. Different vocalizations were played back through a loudspeaker and recorded with several microphones to verify the accuracy. In addition, tests were carried out under real conditions using the example of the giant otter enclosure at Dortmund Zoo, Germany. The results show that the software can estimate the correct position of a sound source with a high accuracy (median of the deviation 0.234 m). Consequently, this software could make an important contribution to basic research via position determination and the associated differentiation of individuals, and could be relevant in a long-term application for monitoring animal welfare in zoos.
Highlights
Animal sounds have the potential to provide extensive information about physiological state, sex, subspecies, reproductive state, social status, stress, and animal welfare [1].Bioacoustics approaches allow zoos to non-invasively access this information and make use of it
The software Localize Animal Sound Events Reliably (LASER) estimated the position of the sound source under the given conditions in Setup1 with a median accuracy of 0.234 m and a median quality of 4.074 (N = 72)
The linear mixed model applied to the data from Setup1 verifies that the value for quality estimates the accuracy of sound localization in a highly significant way (F(1.214) = 160.91, N = 216, p < 0.001)
Summary
Animal sounds have the potential to provide extensive information about physiological state, sex, subspecies, reproductive state, social status, stress, and animal welfare [1].Bioacoustics approaches allow zoos to non-invasively access this information and make use of it. Animal sounds have the potential to provide extensive information about physiological state, sex, subspecies, reproductive state, social status, stress, and animal welfare [1]. Animal sounds allow conclusions to be drawn about the reproductive state of females. The emotional state of the calling animal causes changes in the muscle tension and action of its vocal apparatus, which in turn affects the vocal parameters of the vocalizations [15] and, allows conclusions to be drawn about the stress level of an animal [16,17]. In order to effectively collect and use information about the reproductive status, behavioral aspects, social structures, and welfare of the animals, it is advantageous or even indispensable to be able to assign the emitted vocalization to the calling animal. The information contained in the vocalization can be related to the corresponding individual, its behavior or the area in which the animal is located
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