Practical Applications

Question 1

Definition of in situ?

Answer 1

-performed in the range states in the field where the animal lives

Question 2

Definition of ex situ?

Answer 2

-performed outside of the animal’s natural range status

Question 3

Definition of captive breeding programme?

Answer 3

• protected from threats from the outside world
• involves ‘ark paradigm’ (idea that zoo/conservation centre is a safety net where all these animals are gathered together in one place)

Question 4

Definition of conservation breeding programme?

Answer 4

-involves integration with in situ projects

Question 5

Preservation vs conservation?

Answer 5

• preserving a species in captivity isn’t the same as conserving what that species actually is
• conservation aims to maintain a species ability to adapt and change to future pressures
• if we preserve exactly what we have now then the species will not be able to survive in the future

Question 6

Behavioural ecology and in situ conservation?

Answer 6

• holistic conservation is the way forward (if we conserve the overall habitat we can conserve the species within it)
• population structure in time and space
• population demographic
• carrying capacity (how many individuals can the habitat support at the most unfavourable time of year, most limited resources etc)
• species long-term survival

Question 7

What are the ethics of conservation?

Answer 7

• work with people in the animal’s range state
• don’t put forward a westernised view of ‘how to conserve’
• consider the impact of people in the local area
• consider the ethics of moving and translocating animals

Question 8

What is included in welfare?

Answer 8

• physical components (nutrition, environment, physical health, behaviour)
• mental/psychological components (positive and negative experiences)

Question 9

How does animal behaviour science help define welfare?

Answer 9

• state of the individual (physiological measurements via behaviour, complete behavioural repertoire of the species)
• attempts at coping (stereotypes, self-directed behaviours, dysfunctional/abnormal behaviour patterns)
• effects of the environment (stressors, inadequate/impoverished environment, fight/flight response)

Question 10

What is environmental enrichment?

Answer 10

• an improvement in the biological functioning of a captive animal resulting from modifications to their environment
• evidence can include increased lifetime reproductive success, increased inclusive fitness or correlate of them
• needs to be biologically relevant: replicates key resource or environmental interaction, based on species ecology, promotion of important behaviours, enhances the performance of species-specific behaviour
• can come in variety of forms (physical, social, occupational, nutritional, sensory)

Question 11

What are the 5 welfare needs?

Answer 11

• animal welfare act of 2006
• relates to social group of animal and how it’s housed
• provision of correct diet and clean water
• suitable housing for the animal
• performance of natural behaviour
• veterinary intervention to ensure good quality animal health

Question 12

Positive or negative welfare?

Answer 12

• scientific study of affect
• can have behavioural assessment of normality (could come from our understanding of wild type time activity budgets/normal behaviours that animals perform)
• can measure physiological parameters that can support behavioural observation
• then determine what the animal gets from a positive situation rather than focusing on negative
• promote the positives rather than trying to fix negatives

Question 13

What is control and choice?

Answer 13

• way of ensuring that we promote positive welfare
• choice (what animal does and where it can do this activity)
• control (where it is, where it goes, what it can do and when)
• come from environmental enrichment (EE can’t compensate for inappropriate care that results in poor welfare)
• appetitive behaviours
• consummatory behaviours (have defined, fixed end point)

Question 14

What is motivation and behavioural need?

Answer 14

• animal has drive to do something, internally motivated
• performs the appetitive behaviour where the behaviour is more important than the end results
• reaches consummatory behaviour where they’re performed all actions to reach the goal
• feedback mechanisms than tell the animal to do something else

Question 15

What are abnormal repetitive behaviours?

Answer 15

• behaviours that are invariant and repetitive in their performance with no apparent function
• 2 categories: those of a repeated goal-oriented behaviour (impulsive or compulsive behaviours) and those of a repeated motor function (stereotypic behaviour)
• commonly observed in many species when housed in managed environment
• some argue they’re a coping mechanism as they lower physiological stress

Question 16

What is the stress response?

Answer 16

• leads to behavioural problems
• situation beyond animal’s control causes changes to psychology/physiology
• if animal can’t meet challenge that caused the stress it becomes exhausted and that exhaustion remains which leads to disrupted homeostasis, prolonged abnormal behaviour patterns and host of suppressed maintenance, growth and development behaviours, reproductive issues
• comes in 2 forms (acute and chronic)

Question 17

Conservation biology and ex situ populations?

Answer 17

• plan to approach conservation
• involves all those that are concerned with the conservation of the species and could have influence over the success of the program
• integrated conservation strategy
• has common goal of ensuring a viable population of a species thriving in healthy ecosystems