Publications

Investigating the effect of enrichment on the behavior of zoo-housed southern ground hornbills

Enrichment is essential for the welfare of many zoo-housed animals, yet the value of enrichment is not well understood for all taxa. As an intelligent, long-lived species, the southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is a good model for enrichment research....

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Other Bird

Citation: Brereton, J. E., Myhill, M. N. G., Shora, J. A. 2021. Investigating the effect of enrichment on the behavior of zoo-housed southern ground hornbills. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens 2(4), 600–609.

Predicting the rectal temperature of dairy cows using infrared thermography and multimodal machine learning

The paper proposes an approach for estimating the rectal temperature of dairy cows based on the non-invasive real-time monitoring of their respiration rates and the temperature-humidity index (THI) of the environment, combined with the analysis of infrared images. We use...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Brezov, D., Hristov, H., Dimov, D. et al. 2023. Predicting the rectal temperature of dairy cows using infrared thermography and multimodal machine learning. Applied Sciences 13(20), 11416.

Stereotypic horses (Equus caballus) are not cognitively impaired

Stereotypies in animals are thought to arise from an interaction between genetic predisposition and sub-optimal housing conditions. In domestic horses, a well-studied stereotypy is crib-biting, an abnormal behaviour that appears to help individuals to cope with stressful situations. One prominent...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Abnormal/Problematic BehaviorAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Briefer Freymond, S., Ruet, A., Grivaz, M. et al. 2019. Stereotypic horses (Equus caballus) are not cognitively impaired. Animal Cognition 22(1), 17–33.

When should we ascribe sentience to animals? A commentary on “Hermit crabs, shells and sentience” (Elwood 2022)

In a new review article, experiments on hermit crab behaviour are discussed in the context of possible animal sentience. Sentience can be defined as the ability to experience feelings such as pleasure or pain but there are also broader definitions...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Crustacean, Invertebrate

Citation: Briffa, M. 2022. When should we ascribe sentience to animals? A commentary on “Hermit crabs, shells and sentience” (Elwood 2022). Animal Cognition 25(6), 1375–1380.

Stereotyping starlings are more ‘pessimistic

Negative affect in humans and animals is known to cause individuals to interpret ambiguous stimuli pessimistically, a phenomenon termed ‘cognitive bias'. Here, we used captive European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to test the hypothesis that a reduction in environmental conditions, from...

Year Published: 2010Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Bird, Other Bird

Citation: Brilot, B. O., Asher, L., Bateson, M. 2010. Stereotyping starlings are more ‘pessimistic.' Animal Cognition 13(5), 721–731.

Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics

Fish are one of the most highly utilised vertebrate taxa by humans; they are harvested from wild stocks as part of global fishing industries, grown under intensive aquaculture conditions, are the most common pet and are widely used for scientific...

Year Published: 2015Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Regulations & Ethical ReviewAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish, Salmon, Shark & Ray, Tilapia, Trout, Zebrafish

Citation: Brown, C. 2015. Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics. Animal Cognition 18(1), 1–17.

Smart sharks: A review of chondrichthyan cognition

450 million years of evolution have given chondrichthyans (sharks, rays and allies) ample time to adapt perfectly to their respective everyday life challenges and cognitive abilities have played an important part in that process. The diversity of niches that sharks...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & SentienceAnimal Type: Fish, Shark & Ray

Citation: Brown, C., Schluessel, V. 2023. Smart sharks: A review of chondrichthyan cognition. Animal Cognition 26(1), 175–188.

Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: First insights

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Trout

Citation: Brunet, V., Lafond, T., Kleiber, A. et al. 2023. Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: First insights. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

Current knowledge on the transportation by road of cattle, including unweaned calves

Transport conditions have the potential to alter the physiological responses of animals to the psychological or physical stress of transport. Transportation may introduce multiple physical and psychological stressors to unweaned calves and adult cattle, including noise, overcrowding, food and water...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Relocation & TransportAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Buckham-Sporer, K., Earley, B., Marti, S. 2023. Current knowledge on the transportation by road of cattle, including unweaned calves. Animals 13(21), 3393.

Structural environmental enrichment and the way it is offered influence cognitive judgement bias and anxiety-like behaviours in zebrafish

Environmental enrichment in zebrafish generally reduces anxiety-related behaviours, improves learning in maze trials and increases health and biological fitness. However, certain types of enrichment or certain conditions induce the opposite effects. Therefore, it is essential to study the characteristics of...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Buenhombre, J., Daza-Cardona, E. A., Sousa, P. et al. 2023. Structural environmental enrichment and the way it is offered influence cognitive judgement bias and anxiety-like behaviours in zebrafish. Animal Cognition 26(2), 563–577.