Natural Behavior

Daily travel distances of zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas: Implications for welfare assessments and space requirements

The degree to which the relatively smaller area of artificial environments (compared with natural habitats) has measureable effects on the behavior and welfare of captive animals has been debated for many years. While there is little question that these spaces...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Ross, S. R., Shender, M. A. 2016. Daily travel distances of zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas: Implications for welfare assessments and space requirements. Primates 57(3), 395-401.

The biology and husbandry of the African spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) and the research uses of a laboratory colony

African spiny mice (Acomysspp.) are unique precocial rodents that are found in Africa, the Middle East, and southern Asia. They exhibit several interesting life-history characteristics, including precocial development, communal breeding, and a suite of physiologic adaptations to desert life. In...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Haughton, C. L., Gawriluk, T. R., Seifert, A. W. 2016. The biology and husbandry of the African spiny mouse (Acomys cahirinus) and the research uses of a laboratory colony. JAALAS 55(1), 9–17.

Dairy cows value access to pasture as highly as fresh feed

Many dairy cows in the developed world are now housed exclusively indoors with fewer than 5% of the 10 million lactating cows in the United States having access to pasture during the grazing season. Indoor housing systems are designed to...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: von Keyserlingk, M. A. G., Amorim Cestari, A., Franks, B. 2017. Dairy cows value access to pasture as highly as fresh feed. Scientific Reports 7, 44953.

The importance of burrowing, climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats

Standard laboratory cages prevent rats (Rattus norvegicus) from performing many behaviours that they perform in the wild, but little is known about how this may affect their welfare. The aims of this study were (i) to record the propensity to...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Makowska, I. J., Weary, D. M. 2016. The importance of burrowing, climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats. Royal Society Open Science 3, 160136.

Impact of daily grazing time on dairy cow welfare—results of the Welfare Quality® protocol

Grazing provides livestock better opportunities to act out their species-specific behavior compared to restrictive stable conditions. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of daily grazing time on welfare of dairy cows in organic and conventional...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Wagner, K., Brinkmann, J., March, S. et al. 2018. Impact of daily grazing time on dairy cow welfare—results of the Welfare Quality® protocol. Animals 8(1), 1.

Unbridle biomedical research from the laboratory cage

Many biomedical research studies use captive animals to model human health and disease. However, a surprising number of studies show that the biological systems of animals living in standard laboratory housing are abnormal. To make animal studies more relevant to...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Lahvis, G. 2017. Unbridle biomedical research from the laboratory cage. eLife 6, e27438.

Naturalness and animal welfare

Naturalness is considered important for animals, and is one criterion for assessing how we care for them. However, it is a vague and ambiguous term, which needs definition and assessments suitable for scientific and ethical questions. This paper makes a...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Yeates, J. 2018. Naturalness and animal welfare. Animals 8(4), 53.

Assessment of environmental enrichment for different primate species under low budget: A case study

The 2011 European Union Zoo Inquiry presented evidence that most zoos fail to achieve adequate levels of nonhuman animal welfare. Appropriate environmental enrichment (EE) can play a role in the promotion of welfare. However, financial and staff constraints frequently make...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental Enrichment, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Lemur, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Costa, R., Sousa, C., Llorente, M. 2018. Assessment of environmental enrichment for different primate species under low budget: A case study. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 21(2), 185-199.

Claw condition and claw health in dairy cows: how important is access to pasture?

Housing cows on hard flooring is associated with increased claw disorders. Pasture access shows a positive effect on claw health, particularly for diseases that are related to moist environments (eg, digital dermatitis). Regular documentation of claw health is a useful...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Volkmann, N., Kemper, N. 2018. Claw condition and claw health in dairy cows: how important is access to pasture? Veterinary Record 182(3), 76-78.

Does access to pasture affect claw condition and health in dairy cows?

The aim of this study was to examine effects of pasturing in dairy cows on claw condition (claw length, hardness) and on the prevalence of claw diseases. At claw trimming, a total of 240 Holstein-Friesian or Red-Holstein cows from 20...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Armbrecht, L., Lambertz, C., Albers, D. et al. 2018. Does access to pasture affect claw condition and health in dairy cows? Veterinary Record 182(3), 79.