Environmental Enrichment

Sex segregation affects exploratory and social behaviors of zebrafish according to controlled housing conditions

Zebrafish has become an animal model in research and articles have established ideal conditions for their maintenance. However, little is known regarding the influence of gender and other cues on zebrafish behavior. Thus, here we analyzed the exploratory and social...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Mendonça Soares, S., Kirsten, K., Pompermaier, A. et al. 2020. Sex segregation affects exploratory and social behaviors of zebrafish according to controlled housing conditions. Physiology & Behavior 222, 112944.

Short-term choice of fattening pigs for additional plant-based materials

A major problem in conventional pig production systems is the occurrence of abnormal behaviours such as tail biting. Tail biting is a multifactorial problem, but it seems that a lack of proper enrichment materials prevents the animals from performing normal...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Kauselmann, K., Krause, E. T., Glitz, B. et al. 2020. Short-term choice of fattening pigs for additional plant-based materials. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 226, 104975.

Spontaneous color preferences in rhesus monkeys: What is the advantage of primate trichromacy?

Color perception and color signaling play an important role in various aspects of animal behavior. However, in mammals, trichromatic vision characterized by three retinal photopigments tuned to peak short, middle and long wavelengths is limited only to some primate species....

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Skalníková, P., Frynta, D., Abramjan, A. et al. 2020. Spontaneous color preferences in rhesus monkeys: What is the advantage of primate trichromacy? Behavioural Processes 174, 104084.

Springing bottles enrichment toy effect on behaviors and cortisol level of kenneled dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Environmental enrichment used in captive animals with goals of increasing the activity, behavioral diversity, utilization of the environment and reducing abnormal behaviors. The present study was designed to determine the springing feeding bottles toy ameliorative effect on behaviors and cortisol...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Ibrahim, S. A., Goma, A. A., Alsenosy, A.-w. A. 2020. Springing bottles enrichment toy effect on behaviors and cortisol level of kenneled dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). Alexandria Journal of Veterinary Sciences 66(2), 20-29.

The ‘Cage Climber’ – A new enrichment for use in large-dimensioned mouse facilities

Environmental Enrichment has been shown in experimental contexts to have clear and often beneficial effects on animal physiology and behavior. Housing prior to experiments can represent a large proportion of an animal’s living conditions, and improving housing conditions can be...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Vogt, M. A., Mertens, S., Serba, S. et al. 2020. The ‘Cage Climber’ - A new enrichment for use in large-dimensioned mouse facilities. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105078.

A scoping review: The impact of housing systems and environmental features on beef cattle welfare

Housing systems and environmental features can influence beef cattle welfare. To date, little information has been synthesized on this topic. The aim of this scoping review was to examine the relationship between housing and welfare status, so that beef cattle...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Park, R. M., Foster, M., Daigle, C. L. 2020. A scoping review: The impact of housing systems and environmental features on beef cattle welfare. Animals 10(4), 565.

Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting

The RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare Group has held a one-day meeting every autumn for the last 26 years, so that its members can discuss current welfare research, exchange views on welfare issues, and share experiences of the implementation of the 3Rs...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Stevens, C., Finnegan, E., Clarkson, J. et al. 2020. Report of the 2019 RSPCA/UFAW Rodent Welfare meeting. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 101-111.

A technician’s guide to ferret enrichment

At the Royal Veterinary College, we have carried out an investigation to look at various types of enrichment for our ferrets. This article gives examples of successful enrichment ideas, including: tunnels inside the cage, tunnels interlinking various cages, sandpits, paddling...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Ferret

Citation: Holmes, S. 2020. A technician’s guide to ferret enrichment. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 79-81.

Artificial grooming during early life could boost the activity and human affinity of Holstein female calves

Early cow-calf separation management induced various welfare problems for dairy calves. We mimicked the maternal licking by manually brushing right after the Holstein female calves were born and during their first week of life, termed artificial grooming (AG). The behavior...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Rearing & WeaningAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Li, C., Wang, J., Jin, S. et al. 2020. Artificial grooming during early life could boost the activity and human affinity of Holstein female calves. Animals 10(2), 302.

Assessing the motivation to learn in cattle

Cognitive challenges may provide a form of enrichment to improve the welfare of captive animals. Primates, dolphins, and goats will voluntarily participate in learning tasks suggesting that these are rewarding, but little work has been conducted on livestock species. We...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Meagher, R. K., Strazhnik, E., von Keyserlingk, M. et al. 2020. Assessing the motivation to learn in cattle. Scientific Reports 10, 6847.