Potential Welfare Indicators Research Articles

Training for a cognitive judgement bias task does not affect fear or telomere shortening in laying hens

For behavioural tests such as the cognitive judgement bias task (JBT), animals usually undergo weeks of training involving various elements, such as handling, social isolation and learning the task. These may influence their affective state and other welfare indicators. Here, we investigated the effects of training for a JBT on fear-related behaviour in laying hens and a potential welfare indicator – telomere shortening. Hens were trained for a JBT (N = 16, across 2 batches), or kept as controls (N = 16, across 2 batches) that received no training or training-related handling. Hens that reached the learning criterion (N = 14) were tested in six JBT test sessions. Before and after the trained hens received JBT training, blood was collected from all hens, and they were assessed for fear-related behaviour by being subjected to open field, human approach, and tonic immobility tests. Relative telomere lengths (RTL; i.e., ratio of telomeric repeats versus a single copy control) were obtained from blood samples with a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. As anticipation of the JBT sessions could affect the JBT outcome, we also recorded behavioural indicators of anticipation prior to each JBT test session. Except for an increased latency to first step in the open field test after training in the trained hens (t = 3.1, df=28, P = 0.012; conditional R2=0.59), no other fear-related behaviour significantly differed in either group (P > 0.05) and RTL was not affected. In addition, none of the anticipation indicators predicted the JBT test outcome. Contra to our hypotheses, welfare-related aspects may not be strongly affected by the JBT training. However, the enriched housing of the hens from both treatments might have minimised the effect of training on fear and telomere shortening, or training may have affected indicators other than the ones we investigated. We conclude that because JBT training and testing does not affect fear assessment and telomere shortening outcomes in hens housed in enriched housing conditions, the same individuals can be used in welfare assessments involving similar assessments. Our results also suggest that the JBT itself may be robust against the temporary affective states associated with anticipation.

Assessing animal welfare during a stranding of pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata)

AbstractEmpirical assessment of cetacean welfare to inform stranding interventions is lacking. Here, potential welfare indicators are described for two stranded pygmy killer whales (Feresa attenuata), along with euthanasia procedures and pathology of potential relevance. The animals were filmed for 3.5 and 1.5 hr, respectively, allowing assessment of 19 indicators, including animal behaviors and human interventions. Eight interventions and 19 animal behaviors were identified; 17 and 11 behaviors were displayed by animal 1 and 2, respectively. Examination of ballistics euthanasia revealed atypical projectile placement and characterized animal behavioral responses, but welfare implications could not be assessed as insensibility was not verified in‐field. Pulmonary edema and renal degeneration were documented in both animals; differential etiologies include ischemia–reperfusion, shock, and/or myopathy. Potential relationships among histopathology and welfare indicators are explored to infer affective experiences. For example, simultaneous head‐lifting with respiration increased over time which, alongside pulmonary edema, suggests these animals experienced breathlessness. Other likely affective states include fatigue and discomfort; there are insufficient data to estimate the intensity or duration of these experiences or to provide an overall welfare grade/score. Further data are required to validate the proposed welfare indicators and to progress development of holistic approaches to welfare assessment at cetacean strandings.

Using sensors to detect individual responses of lambs during transport and pre-slaughter handling and their relationship with meat quality

AbstractRapid analysis of animal welfare is a crucial component of the assessment of the meat quality supply chain, ensuring management procedures confer optimum standards of welfare. Further, there is increasing interest in monitoring the welfare state of each individual animal. This study looked at transport and pre-slaughter management in terms of meat quality evaluated in two breeds (Biellese and Sambucana) across two different farming systems. Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies were implemented, including accelerometer and rumination activity ear-tag sensors, as potential welfare indicators during transportation and pre-slaughter. Significant correlations were found between sensors’ parameters, such as total activity and rumination and physical and chemical meat quality characteristics such as drip loss. Lambs with lower rumination and/or lower total activity were found to have lower drip loss indicating reduced meat quality. Sensors have the potential to help detect those animals particularly sensitive to stressors during transport and pre-slaughter handling and may allow real-time measurement of the impact of transport and handling in abattoirs, enabling better animal management via specific customised strategies.

Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melas edwardii).

Simple SummaryCetacean strandings occur globally and can impact the welfare as well as the survival of the animals involved. Understanding the welfare status of stranded cetaceans is important to inform appropriate human intervention. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how to assess animal welfare in this context. Here, we used video footage of live stranded animals of four odontocete species to explore which proposed welfare indicators can be assessed at live stranding events. We identified and evaluated potential indicators that could be non-invasively assessed, including 10 non-behavioural and 2 composite behavioural indicators (category of many behaviours). The first data on the fine-scale behaviour of stranded odontocetes and associated human intervention during stranding responses are presented. Our findings suggest that remote assessments of stranded cetacean’s welfare states are feasible. These data provide the foundation to develop a systematic, structured welfare assessment framework specific to stranded cetaceans that can inform conservation and management decisions.Despite the known benefit of considering welfare within wildlife conservation and management, there remains a lack of data to inform such evaluations. To assess animal welfare, relevant information must be captured scientifically and systematically. A key first step is identifying potential indicators of welfare and the practicality of their measurement. We assessed the feasibility of evaluating potential welfare indicators from opportunistically gathered video footage of four stranded odontocete species (n = 53) at 14 stranding events around New Zealand. The first stranded cetacean ethogram was compiled, including 30 different behaviours, 20 of which were observed in all four species. Additionally, thirteen types of human intervention were classified. A subset of 49 live stranded long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas edwardii) were assessed to determine indicator prevalence and to quantify behaviours. Four ‘welfare status’ and six ‘welfare alerting’ non-behavioural indicators could be consistently evaluated from the footage. Additionally, two composite behavioural indicators were feasible. Three human intervention types (present, watering, and touching) and five animal behaviours (tail flutter, dorsal fin flutter, head lift, tail lift, and head side-to-side) were prevalent (>40% of individuals). Our study highlights the potential for non-invasive, remote assessments via video footage and represents an initial step towards developing a systematic, holistic welfare assessment framework for stranded cetaceans.

Welfare in Farmed Decapod Crustaceans, With Particular Reference to Penaeus vannamei

The farming of decapod crustaceans is a key economic driver in many countries, with production reaching around 9.4 million tonnes (USD 69.3 billion) in 2018. These efforts are currently dominated by the farming of Pacific whiteleg shrimp,Penaeus vannamei, which translates into approximately 167 billion farmedP. vannameibeing harvested annually. Further production growth is expected in the future and hence the need for more research into its health and welfare is required. Herein, from an extensive survey of the available literature, we scrutinise farming practices and the challenges associated with the production ofP. vannameifrom an animal-centric welfare perspective (1), we propose potential welfare indicators (2) and we critically review current scientific evidence of sentience in penaeid shrimp among other commercially important decapods (3), since it is plausible that in the near future not only the largest, but in fact all decapod crustaceans will receive welfare protection. This review highlights that despite the wide knowledge on crustacean stress physiology and immunology as well as disease control, still little is known about some key parameters related to the five welfare dimensions. We recommend that further research should focus on developing a systematic integrated welfare assessment encompassing all the different aspects of the crustaceans farming and life cycle up to slaughter. Furthermore, direct and indirect species-specific operational welfare indicators should be developed for all decapod crustaceans currently farmed, similar to the ones suggested in this review forP. vannamei.

A survey exploring the impact of housing and husbandry on pet snake welfare

AbstractSnake ownership is popular; however, housing and care may not always satisfy the animal's welfare needs. For example, snakes are often kept in environmental conditions that restrict their ability to stretch out fully or move around, using rectilinear locomotion. To date, little empirical data exist on the housing and husbandry of captive snakes and how these impact welfare. This study analyses survey responses from 744 snake owners worldwide and explores potential welfare concerns for snakes kept within private homes. It documents the most common housing and husbandry methods and compares the three most common families (Pythonids, Boids and Colubrids). Owner-reported data were used to derive scores for two potential welfare indicators: number of clinical signs of ill health and the number of reported negative (abnormal) behaviours. Using these indicators, associations were tested with snake-keeping variables, such as enclosure size, level of enrichment, temperature and humidity. Owners reported that 90.7% (n = 675) of snakes adopted rectilinear (straight-line or near straight-line) positions or movements. Snakes kept in enclosures > 1 snake length tended to have more enrichment types and were reported with fewer clinical signs of ill health. Some snakes were housed at unknown temperature (7.7%) or humidity (48.1%) ranges or in environmental conditions not in keeping with current recommended guidelines. Corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) were the most likely species to be kept at a humidity which did not match recommendations which may present a welfare concern. This study's results can be used to target husbandry guidance for future recommendations and care manuals.

Behavioural diversity as a potential welfare indicator for professionally managed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Exploring variations in calculating diversity using species-specific behaviours

AbstractBehavioural diversity may serve as a positive indicator of animal welfare that can be applied in long-term monitoring schemes in managed settings (eg zoos, laboratories, farms). Behavioural diversity is often higher when animals live in stimulating environments and experience positive events. Unfortunately, welfare researchers have not adopted consistent, standardised approaches to measuring behavioural diversity. The goal of this exploratory study was to utilise data from 41 adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) housed across 16 zoological institutions to examine various models of Shannon's Diversity Index. Specifically, we investigated the impact of: combining versus splitting behaviours, including only positive behaviours, including human interaction, and considering recipient behaviours. We evaluate how the inclusion or exclusion of different behaviours impacts the relationship of behavioural diversity with: (i) concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM), a common indicator of adrenal activity; (ii) concentrations of immunoglobulin-A (IgA), an indicator of immune function and potential indicator of positive welfare; and (iii) stereotypic behaviour, a validated indicator of poor welfare. Most indices had significant negative relationships with faecal GCM. Animals that express a variety of behaviours from their species-typical repertoire have lower average faecal GCM concentrations and are likely experiencing better welfare. We did not find significant relationships between the behavioural diversity indices and IgA concentrations. Two indices were inversely associated with stereotypic behaviour. Our findings provide additional support for using Shannon's Diversity Index to calculate behavioural diversity as a robust, valid measure of positive welfare. However, future publications must justify the process for including or excluding behaviours from calculations.

Loss of light colour preference after chronic embryonic stress in rainbow trout fry: A novel and potential indicator of fish welfare?

For many fish species, environmental colour may act either as a source of stress or as a stress-buffer, alleviating behavioural and physiological responses after a stressful situation. While much is known on the effects of environmental colour on fish stress parameters, knowledge on the effects of stress on fish colour preferences is still lacking. In order to test the effects of stress on colour preference in fish, in this work, we exposed rainbow trout embryos (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to stressful conditions (air exposure, pheromone alarm cue or control, with minimal stress) from 19 to 44 days post fertilization (dpf). They were then raised up to 56 dpf in bright, dark, green or blue environments. After that, fry were individually tested for colour preference in a three-chambered arena where they could choose between green and blue areas. The time spent in the blue and in the green chamber was compared between experimental groups. Rainbow trout fry exposed to minimal stress (control) or to biotic stress (pheromone alarm) showed increased time in the blue environment, with little effect of ambient colour where they were raised. However, fish that experienced air exposure stress showed a lack of colour preference irrespective of the colour they were raised in afterwards. These results imply that early life stress affects colour preference in rainbow trout, suggesting that abiotic stressors, such as air exposure, may affect colour perception or behavioural plasticity in young fish. If the results presented herein are corroborated by future studies in fish at different life stages, beyond the embryonic phase, colour preference tests may be used as an additional and potential welfare indicator to estimate, in a retrospective manner, which stressors were faced by the individuals during early stages. By knowing whether or not their fish were exposed to certain stressful conditions may allow farmers to better adapt fish rearing conditions and to implement strategies that alleviate any long-term impacts that may exist, and, therefore, improve fish welfare.

A critical review of animal-based welfare indicators for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in zoos: Identification and evidence of validity

AbstractCaptive polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are well-documented as being prone to behavioural disorders and, as a result, their welfare is the cause of increasing concern. There is therefore a need for an evidence-based approach to the assessment of the welfare of this species and identification of valid welfare indicators is the first step towards achieving this. To this end, a critical evaluation of peer-reviewed literature was undertaken. Searches of Web of Science and Scopus took place in May 2020 for publications relevant to the welfare of captive polar bears which met inclusion criteria. Further, validity of extracted indicators was assessed via investigation of evidence of content, construct and criterion validity along with strength of evidence at publication-level. Database searches and snowballing unearthed 46 publications included for review. Identified indicators were sorted into nine behavioural, four physiological (based on physiological or biological sampling) and five physical (based on visual inspection) categories. Among behavioural indicators, the strongest evidence of validity was found for abnormal behaviour. For the physiological indicators, validity was only established for faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentration. Content validity was assumed for all physical indicators. Generalisability and strength of evidence was generally compromised by low sample sizes and experimental limitations, and only a small number of papers investigated welfare indicators directly, resulting in a paucity of validated indicators. Potential welfare indicators that warrant further validation are highlighted. Overall, this review provides an overview of current valid and promising welfare indicators along with identified gaps in knowledge, relevant for the provision of a methodology for assessing and monitoring welfare of captive polar bears.

The metabolic rate response to feed withdrawal in Atlantic salmon post-smolts

Feed withdrawal is a widespread practice in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) aquaculture to empty the gut prior to major farming operations, while certain pathogens and suboptimal environmental conditions in production cages are known to induce prolonged fasting. However, these fasting periods may be in conflict with ethical and legal obligations to farm animals. Presently, science-based recommendations on responsible fasting times that consider fish welfare are lacking. In this study, we measured the standard metabolic rate (SMR) and metabolic rate following acute handling and confinement stress in Atlantic salmon post smolts (~575 g, ~38 cm) following 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of feed withdrawal and 1 week of subsequent refeeding at 12 °C. The purpose was to identify when changes in metabolic mode occurred and assess whether the capacity to respond to stress eventually was compromised, since such observations could serve as potential welfare indicators. The SMR decreased significantly from 84.4 ± 4.7 mg O2 kg h−1 in control fish to 71.0 ± 1.8 mg O2 kg h−1 following 1 week of fasting. A further significant decrease to 65.0 ± 3.7 mg O2 kg h−1 was measured after 3 weeks, while refeeding returned SMR to control levels. The increase in MO2 following acute stress was unaffected for the first three weeks of fasting. However, the 4 week group showed a reduced peak response compared to the preceding weeks (278 ± 13 vs. 310 ± 7 mg O2 kg h−1). Weight, fork length and condition factor did not change significantly during the fasting period, and the fish immediately resumed eating upon refeeding. We conclude that up to 4 weeks of feed withdrawal had negligible effects on fish welfare. Moreover, an improved aerobic scope owing to a reduced SMR may be advantageous prior to certain farm operations.

Body Contacts and Social Interactions in Captive Odontocetes Are Influenced by the Context: An Implication for Welfare Assessment.

Simple SummaryEven though species differ in terms of personality traits and responses to external stimuli, welfare-oriented studies conducted on odontocetes are mostly focused on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Odontocetes are highly social animals; social behaviors are therefore interesting to investigate in relation to welfare. Video recording was conducted over a year on three groups of captive odontocetes, to record the frequency of social behaviors across different contexts. Captive odontocetes’ social behaviors, such as pectoral contacts, other body contacts, agonistic interactions or social play were influenced by the context and the patterns observed in this study suggest their potential usefulness to assess welfare in these animals, and that species and groups might react differently to a stimulus.Research on the welfare of captive odontocetes has increased in recent years, but has been mostly focused on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Few studies investigated potential welfare indicators using quantitative data linked to a range of conditions or stimuli that are thought to impact the animals’ emotional state. Since odontocetes are social animals that engage in various social interactions, these interactions might inform us on their welfare state. We investigated pectoral contact laterality and the effect of the context on several social behaviors in three groups of captive odontocetes (Yangtze finless porpoises, YFPs: Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis; East-Asian finless porpoises, EAFPs: N. a. sunameri, and bottlenose dolphins, BDs). Animals exhibited patterns depending on the time of the day for most of the social behaviors we analyzed; social separation was associated with lower rates of social behaviors for the two analyzed groups (YFPs and BDs), the accessibility to several pools was associated with higher rates of social behaviors for BDs. The effect of enrichment, disturbances and public presence was less clear and strongly depended on the group, the type of enrichment and disturbance. Our results confirm that captive odontocetes’ social behaviors are influenced by the context, and that, depending on the group, some of them, such as pectoral contacts, other body contacts, agonistic interactions or social play exhibit consistent patterns across contexts. Monitoring these behaviors might be useful to adapt the captive management to each species and group. The different responses among the three studied groups confirm that species and groups react differently to a stimulus and therefore, management decisions should be species/group specific. We recommend that more studies should be conducted to validate our findings in other groups of odontocetes under human care.

Play in Elephants: Wellbeing, Welfare or Distraction?

Simple SummaryAnimal play is a subject of great interest and some enduring controversy. Why do animals play, when do they play and if they do not play much, does this indicate that they may be physically or emotionally stressed? We explore these questions for elephant calves ranging in age from birth to five years old, and we compare play in captivity with that observed in the wild for two species. Against our general expectation that calves might play less play in captivity, we found that wild elephants spent the least time in play, probably because wild calves have to solve other social problems and be on the move constantly in order to find enough food, escape from predators, and keep up with their mothers and other relatives. Play is a diverse and subtle potential indicator of wellbeing for young animals, and we suggest that its presence needs to be interpreted with caution as it could represent either a distraction from a constant or unchallenging environment or provide arousal. Play appears to act as a behavioural mechanism for creating physical and social challenges for elephants of all ages, irrespective of their environment.We explore elephant play behaviour since (a) play has been proposed to represent a potential welfare indicator; and (b) play has been associated with long-term survival in the wild. We categorised play into four types, and investigate both social (gentle, escalated-contact) and non-social (lone-locomotor, exploratory-object) play from observations made on wild (Asian N = 101; African N = 130) and captive (Asian N = 8; African N = 7) elephant calves ranging in age from birth to five years. Social play was the most frequent type of play among immature elephants, accounting for an average of 3%–9% of active time. Non-social play accounted for an additional 1%–11% of time. The most time spent in play was seen in captive Asian calves, particularly at the ages of 1–6 months, while wild African calves spent the least time in play overall, even though they had the greatest number and most diverse range of play partners available. We assessed calf energetics using time spent suckling, resting, moving and independent feeding. Time spent playing was unrelated to time spent suckling but negatively associated with time spent independently feeding. There were no associations with time spent moving or resting. Maternal energy via lactation was unrelated to play early in life, but energy acquired independently may constrain or enable play. Play, while a potential indicator of compromised welfare for many species when absent, can act as a highly stimulating activity for captive elephants in the absence of other forms of arousal.

Dolphins' Willingness to Participate (WtP) in Positive Reinforcement Training as a Potential Welfare Indicator, Where WtP Predicts Early Changes in Health Status.

Welfare science has built its foundations on veterinary medicine and thus measures of health. Since bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) tend to mask symptoms of poor health, management in captivity would benefit from advanced understanding on the links between health and behavioural parameters, and few studies exist on the topic. In this study, four representative behavioural and health measures were chosen: health status (as qualified by veterinarians), percentage of daily food eaten, occurrences of new rake marks (proxy measure of social activity), and willingness to participate (WtP) in Positive Reinforcement Training sessions as qualitatively measured by their caretakers. These data were collected multiple times a day, every day over the course of a year from a multi-facility, large sample size (ndolphins = 51), allowing powerful analyses of the relationships between measures. First, it was found that dolphins with a higher WtP score also had a significantly better health status, ate a higher percentage of their daily food, and a lower occurrence of new rake marks. In addition, the WtP score was significantly lower up to 3 days before the weekly veterinary diagnosis of a decrease in health state; the percentage of daily food eaten and new rake mark measures did not show any significant change before such a diagnosis. These results suggest that WtP in training sessions is a potential behavioural measure of dolphin welfare, and an indicator of early changes in the dolphins’ health state. We therefore suggest measurement of WtP as a more practical and non-invasive tool to support veterinary care and general management. More work needs to be conducted to elucidate the influence of social behaviour on health, and to identify other potential welfare indicators, but this long-term study has shown that qualitative measures can be both practical and valid when assessing dolphin welfare.

Injury and condemnation data of pigs at slaughterhouses with federal inspection in the State of Paraná, Brazil, as indicators of welfare during transportation

ABSTRACT: Pigs transportation is a critical stage for their welfare and can directly influence the rates of carcass condemnation. The objective of this research was to study the injuries and condemnation data recorded in the Federal Inspection System (SIF) as potential welfare indicators during pig transport. In federally inspected slaughterhouses in the State of Paraná, Brazil, from january 2011 to December 2016, 1.4% (602,006) of carcasses were condemned, 15.0% (90,426) as a result of injuries related to transportation. From total condemnation cases, 12.1% (72,759) were due to traumatic injury, 2.5% (15,144) to PSE, 0.4% (2,327) to dead on arrival and 0.03% (196) to other transportation welfare indicators. There was no correlation between the condemnation rates and the meteorological data. The results exposed the need for improvement in pig transport conditions. In addition, this study allowed us to point out possible improvements in the collection of nosographic data into the SIF’s Management Information System (SIGSIF), such as inclusion of other injuries associated with welfare restrictions, standardization of the terms that already exist in the system, improvement in the indicator measurements, development of regulations and training for professionals involved. Results suggested that SIGSIF data are useful for monitoring the welfare of pigs during transportation, with potential for refinement from improvements in data recording.

Skin lesion monitoring at slaughter on heavy pigs (170 kg): Welfare indicators and ham defects.

In order to evaluate at the slaughterhouse external carcass lesions on heavy pigs (170 kg) as potential welfare indicators, and the prevalence of ham defects determining ham exclusion from Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) markets, 732 pig batches from northern Italy were monitored during a 12-month period, and then processed analysing the effect of slaughter season, overnight lairage, and production type. On the slaughter line, skin scratches were separately scored in the posterior region (defined as the area including the hind legs and the tail) and the anterior one (as the remaining area), while the whole carcass was examined for external hematomas. Chronic ear and tail lesions referable to the rearing phase, and bursitis were recorded as retrospective welfare indicators. The annual median prevalence of carcasses per batch with severe anterior scratches was 64% while 46.4% had severe posterior scratches. The highest autumn score for both skin scratches (P < 0.001) and traumatic ham defects (P = 0.005) is reflected in the positive correlation between severe posterior scratches and ham hematomas (r2 = 0.27; P < 0.001). Overnight lairage batches resulted in higher prevalence for scratches, while among ham defects only veining increased. Among binary records, only ear lesions were frequently recorded (annual median = 10%). A comparison analysis between pigs in and out of PDO circuit was performed to evaluate the variation related to the different genetics, showing differences for ear and tail lesions and for almost all the considered ham defects. The present study confirms that skin lesions represent a problem also for heavy pigs and that overnight lairage and season can affect their prevalence, with the associated possibility to give ham defects. Ear lesions are suitable to be used as retrospective welfare indicator, while tail lesions usage is nowadays limited by the extensive use of tail docking.

A review of current indicators of welfare in captive elephants (Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus)

AbstractConcerns over elephant welfare in UK zoos have implications for their future in captivity. To monitor improvements made to elephant welfare in UK zoos, non-invasive, valid and reliable indicators of welfare are needed. Using a rapid review strategy and critical appraisal tool, we aimed to appraise evidence from peer-reviewed literature on potential welfare indicators for captive elephants. Scopus, Web of Knowledge and Ovid were searched in January 2014 using terms relevant to captive elephants and welfare assessment. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and remaining articles were critically appraised against a specially designed welfare indicator appraisal tool. Thirty-seven unique indicators of welfare were extracted from 30 peer-reviewed papers which met the inclusion criteria. Behavioural measures of welfare (n = 21) were more common than either physical (n = 11) or physiological (n = 5) measures. Stereotypies were the most frequently used behavioural measure, glucocorticoids were the most frequently used physiological measure and body condition scores were the most frequently used physical measure. There was most support for the following indicators of improved welfare state: reduced stereotypies, reduced glucocorticoids and improved body condition scores. Additional measures which require further validation but had strong associations with the most supported measures, and thus have potential use in welfare assessment, were: increased lying rest and positive social interactions. Further validation of the described measures is needed, but this information forms a crucial part of the knowledge required to efficiently monitor and improve the welfare of elephants in captivity.

Daily salivary cortisol levels in response to stress factors in captive common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): a potential welfare indicator

DOLPHINS in a captive setting can be occasionally subjected to a variety of potentially stressful situations. The stress response comprises a variety of biological reactions to internal or external stimuli...

Welfare assessment of horses: the AWIN approach

AbstractThe EU-funded Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) research project (2011-2015) aimed to improve animal welfare through the development of practical on-farm animal welfare assessment protocols. The present study describes the application of the AWIN approach to the development of a welfare assessment protocol for horses (Equus caballus). Its development required the following steps: (i) selection of potential welfare indicators; (ii) bridging gaps in knowledge; (iii) consulting stakeholders; and (iv) testing a prototype protocol on-farm. Compared to existing welfare assessment protocols for other species, the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for horses introduces a number of innovative aspects, such as implementation of a two-level strategy focused on improving on-farm feasibility and the use of electronic tools to achieve standardised data collection and so promote rapid outcomes. Further refinement to the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for horses is needed in order to firstly gather data from a larger reference population and, secondly, enhance the welfare assessment protocol with reference to different horse housing and husbandry conditions.

Play matters: the surprising relationship between juvenile playfulness and anxiety in later life

Besides being recognized as a potential welfare indicator, play behaviour has long been considered to have immediate and/or long-term benefits. In particular, it has been suggested that in play animals learn to cope physically and emotionally with unexpected events. Given that the propensity to play varies greatly between conspecific individuals, such interindividual variability in playfulness may be associated with differences in the animals' future behaviour, a prediction that has rarely been tested. To investigate whether different levels of playfulness in juvenility indeed coincide with behavioural differences in later life, 30 female C57BL/6J mice were subjected to the following series of behavioural observations and tests: (1) quantification of juvenile play behaviour; (2) behavioural testing in paradigms that assess anxiety-like behaviour and exploratory locomotion in an unfamiliar environment; and (3) observation of spontaneous behaviour in the familiar home cage environment. Surprisingly, a high level of juvenile playfulness was predictive of high levels of state anxiety and low levels of exploratory locomotion in later life. While this relationship existed already in adolescence, it became even more prominent in adulthood. By contrast, no substantial differences between playful and less playful mice were found with respect to home cage behaviour. While these findings may reflect better coping abilities in novel and dangerous environments in those mice that played the most during juvenility, they may also argue for the existence of different types of mice. Thus, despite genetic homogeneity and identical housing environments, preferences for either local or global use of space were observed that indicate the emergence of individuality. Concerning animal welfare, our findings suggest that play may constitute a plausible welfare indicator at the population level, but is probably less meaningful for the individual.

Animal-based indicators to assess welfare in zoo animals.

Abstract Animal welfare is a priority for modern zoos and science-based welfare indicators are needed. Welfare indicators can be divided into environment-based and animal-based indicators. Environment-based indicators are usually easier to measure, but only animal-based indicators provide direct information on the welfare of animals and are therefore preferred. Animal-based indicators include abnormal behaviours; changes in the frequency, duration or intensity of normal behaviours; disease prevalence or incidence; life span; body condition, physiological parameters; telomere length; and keeper ratings. Some of the abnormal behaviours most commonly used to assess welfare are stereotypies, apathy, regurgitation-reingestion and feather-damaging behaviour. Changes in sleep, feed intake, rumination, displacement behaviours, anticipatory behaviour, play, affiliative behaviour, aggression and maternal behaviour can also be used to assess welfare in zoo animals. There is no single indicator that can provide all the information needed to assess the welfare of an animal or group of animals. Further, all potential welfare indicators have shortcomings and methodological limitations. Therefore, several indicators have to be used to assess zoo animal welfare and they should be checked for validity, reliability and feasibility. Also, both positive and negative indicators of welfare should be used. One area deserving further research is the development of welfare assessment protocols that combine the best indicators for a given species or taxonomic group. Some of the protocols developed for farm animals could be applied to zoo animals. Most research on welfare assessment of zoo animals refers to mammals and birds and identification of welfare indicators for reptiles, fish and amphibians is another research priority.