Environmental Enrichment

Structural enrichment for laboratory mice: Exploring the effects of novelty and complexity

Providing structural enrichment is a widespread refinement method for laboratory rodents and other animals in captivity. So far, animal welfare research has mostly focused on the effect of increased complexity either by accumulating or combining different enrichment items. However, increasing...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bohn, L., Bierbaum, L., Kästner, N. et al. 2023. Structural enrichment for laboratory mice: Exploring the effects of novelty and complexity. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

Shelter color selection of juvenile swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus)

Color preference testing for animals is a prerequisite for optimizing facilities and ensuring animal welfare in aquaculture. Swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus) are aggressive, and shelters are often installed in ponds to reduce the high mortality rate caused by their agonistic...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Crustacean, Invertebrate

Citation: Zhang, H., Zhu, B., Yu, L. et al. 2022. Shelter color selection of juvenile swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus). Fishes 7(5), 296.

Adapted original music as an environmental enrichment in an intensive pig production system reduced aggression in weaned pigs during regrouping

In intensive swine production systems,, the practice of regrouping unfamiliar pigs is common, often leading to aggressive behavior. Although the effect of different musical genres composed for humans has been evaluated in pigs to mitigate aggression, there have been few...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Alvarez-Hernandez, N., Vallejo-Timarán, D., de Jesús Rodriguez, B. 2023. Adapted original music as an environmental enrichment in an intensive pig production system reduced aggression in weaned pigs during regrouping. Animals 13(23), 3599.

Impact of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Environmental condition, such as environmental complexity or stocking density, can directly or indirectly influence animal emotion and ultimately, affective state. Affective states of animals can be assessed through judgement bias tests, evaluating responses to ambiguous situations. In this study, we...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Fish, Trout

Citation: Anderson, M. G., Campbell, A. M., Kuhn, D. D. et al. 2022. Impact of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Animal Cognition 25(5), 1331–1343.

Olfactory stimulation as environmental enrichment for domestic horses—A review

Horses constantly face several challenges inherent to the domestic environment, and it is common for the expression of their natural behavior to be drastically limited. Environmental enrichment has been suggested as an alternative to improve the captive situation of domestic...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Bini de Lima, A. C., Sebastião da Fé, V. C., Palermo Hernandes, M. S. et al. 2023. Olfactory stimulation as environmental enrichment for domestic horses—A review. Animals 13(20), 3180

Body tactile stimulation reduces the effects of high stocking density on the welfare of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

High stocking density is used in aquaculture to optimize farming. However, such strategies can stress territorial fish by increasing aggression, thus harming the fish welfare and productive performance. Here, we tested the effect of long-term tactile body stimulation (TS) on...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Fish, Tilapia

Citation: Gauy, A. C. dos S., Bolognesi, M. C., Gonçalves-de-Freitas, E. 2023. Body tactile stimulation reduces the effects of high stocking density on the welfare of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Fishes 8(6), 320.

Exposure to an enriched environment exerts anxiolytic effects in Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats

Exposure to an enriched environment (EE) has been reported to generate multiple beneficial effects in rodents, including – among the many – amelioration of anxiety-related behaviors. The present study investigated whether living in an EE produced anxiolytic effects also in...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Lobina, C., Maccioni, P., Gessa, G. L. et al. 2023. Exposure to an enriched environment exerts anxiolytic effects in Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats. Behavioural Brain Research 452, 114557.

Preterm rat survival is enhanced by gestational environmental enrichment

Throughout the last decade, the estimated global human preterm birth rate was 10.6 %, with higher rates in Asia, South America, and Africa. Preterm individuals, even in adulthood, are more likely to develop cardiorespiratory, renal, and metabolic disorders. On the...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, ReproductionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Núñez-Murrieta, M. A., Coria-Avila, G. A., Martínez, A. J. et al. 2023. Preterm rat survival is enhanced by gestational environmental enrichment. Behavioural Processes 205, 104820.

Residency and swimming behavior of Acanthopagrus schlegelii, Trachinotus blochii, and Acanthopagrus latus in relation to artificial reef models in a captivity experiment

Global capture fisheries production has declined rapidly over the past decades because of the growing demand for fisheries resources. To restore fisheries resources, artificial reefs (ARs) are deployed on the seafloor to provide new habitats for marine life. However, the...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Lee, W.-Y., Lan, K.-W., Chang, H.-H. et al. 2022. Residency and swimming behavior of Acanthopagrus schlegelii, Trachinotus blochii, and Acanthopagrus latus in relation to artificial reef models in a captivity experiment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 257, 105778.

The beneficial effects of providing prepartum sows with nesting materials on farrowing traits, piglet performance and maternal behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sows are highly motivated to engage in nest-building behavior prior to farrowing. Studies have shown that providing nesting material to farrowing sows reduces the occurrence of redirected nest-building behaviors, improves farrowing traits and maternal behavior, and decreases pre-weaning mortality. However,...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Rearing & Weaning, ReproductionAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Monteiro, M. S., Muro, B. B. D., Carnevale, R. F. et al. 2023. The beneficial effects of providing prepartum sows with nesting materials on farrowing traits, piglet performance and maternal behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 259, 105795.