Marine Mammal

Testing use of the first multi-partner cognitive enrichment devices by a group of male bottlenose dolphins

Alliance formation plays a crucial part in male dolphins' lives. These partnerships may last for decades or even for a lifetime; thus, partner choice and the maintenance of these relationships are both considered key components of alliance formation. In our...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Matrai, E., Kwok, S. T., Boos, M. et al. 2022. Testing use of the first multi-partner cognitive enrichment devices by a group of male bottlenose dolphins. Animal Cognition 25(4), 961–973.

Return of sound production as a biomarker of bottlenose dolphin emergence from anesthesia

(1) Background: When a human or animal is recovering from general anesthesia, their medical team uses several behavioral and physiological parameters to assess their emergence from the unconscious state to complete wakefulness. However, the return of auditory and acoustic behaviors...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Anesthesia & SedationAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Jones, B. L., McClain, A. M., Sportelli, J. J. et al. 2023. Return of sound production as a biomarker of bottlenose dolphin emergence from anesthesia. Animals 13(15), 2531.

A system for monitoring acoustics to supplement an animal welfare plan for bottlenose dolphins

Animal sounds are commonly used by humans to infer information about their motivations and their health, yet, acoustic data is an underutilized welfare biomarker especially for aquatic animals. Here, we describe an acoustic monitoring system that is being implemented at...

Year Published: 2021Topics: VocalizationAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Jones, B. L., Oswald, M., Tufano, S. et al. 2021. A system for monitoring acoustics to supplement an animal welfare plan for bottlenose dolphins. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(2), 222–233.

Environmental enrichment factors associated with the activity level of bottlenose dolphins under professional care

Environmental enrichment can be used to improve the welfare of dolphins in zoos and aquariums. Bottlenose dolphins under professional care are typically provided with a range of enrichment that has a variety of features and levels of complexity at various...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Lauderdale, L. K., Shorter, K. A., Zhang, D. et al. 2022. Environmental enrichment factors associated with the activity level of bottlenose dolphins under professional care. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(1), 44–55.

Euthanasia complications in non-domestic species

There are very few studies describing euthanasia complications in non-domestic species. The goal of this study was to survey veterinarians to determine what complications may commonly occur during the euthanasia of non-domestic species. An online survey was sent to seven...

Year Published: 2022Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Amphibian, Bird, Fish, Marine Mammal, Nonhuman Primate, Other Animal, Other Bird, Other Fish, Parrot, Reptile, Shark & Ray

Citation: Hepps Keeney, C., Harrison, T. M. 2022. Euthanasia complications in non-domestic species. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 3(4), 616–623.

Sex, age, and individual differences in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in response to environmental enrichment

Application of environmental enrichment, as a means to successfully decrease undesired behaviors (e.g., stereotypic) and improve animal welfare, has been documented in a variety of zoological species. However, a dearth of empirical evidence exists concerning age, sex, and individual differences...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Eskelinen, H., Winship, K., Borger-Turner, J. 2015. Sex, age, and individual differences in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in response to environmental enrichment. Animal Behavior and Cognition 2(3), 241–253.

Dolphin welfare assessment under professional care: ‘Willingness to Participate’, an indicator significantly associated with six potential ‘alerting factors

In dolphinaria, dolphins and their trainers build relationships and bonds due to the nature, closeness and repeatability of their interactions, hence training sessions are deemed appropriate to evaluate dolphin welfare. Qualitative Behavioural Assessments (QBAs) have been used to study human–animal...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Delfour, F., Monreal-Pawlowsky, T., Vaicekauskaite, R. et al. 2020. Dolphin welfare assessment under professional care: ‘Willingness to Participate', an indicator significantly associated with six potential ‘alerting factors.' Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 1(1), 42–60.

Skin cortisol and acoustic activity: Potential tools to evaluate stress and welfare in captive cetaceans

As people's focus broadens from animals on farms to zoos and aquaria, the field of welfare science and the public's concern for animal welfare continue to grow. In captive animals, stress and its causes are topics of interest in welfare...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Vocalization, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Wong, C.-H., Tsai, M.-A., Ko, F.-C. et al. 2023. Skin cortisol and acoustic activity: Potential tools to evaluate stress and welfare in captive cetaceans. Animals 13(9), 1521.

A quantitative assessment of trainers-dolphins’ interactions in the absence of food reward

All the studies that have considered the motivation of the dolphins to interact with their trainers as a possible welfare indicator have been carried out in facilities where the trainer-dolphin interactions (TDIs) sessions were reinforced with food. Therefore, in these...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Platto, S., Serres, A. 2023. A quantitative assessment of trainers-dolphins' interactions in the absence of food reward. Animals 13(10), 1651.

Cognitive foraging enrichment (but not non-cognitive enrichment) improved several longer-term welfare indicators in bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins are the most common cetacean kept globally in zoos and aquaria (hereafter zoos), and are gregarious animals with a mostly opportunistic, generalist feeding strategy in the wild. In zoos, they have limited to no opportunities to express natural...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Clegg, I. L. K., Domingues, M., Ström, E. et al. 2023. Cognitive foraging enrichment (but not non-cognitive enrichment) improved several longer-term welfare indicators in bottlenose dolphins. Animals 13(2), 238.