Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo The effectiveness of food-based enrichment on Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris) at Adelaide Zoo Order Instructions: Zoo Study Report Assignment 2
This assignment mainly is based on the Adelaide Zoo in South Australia.
The Animal I have chosen is SUMATRAN TIGERS like the first Assignment you did.
Please keep all references and research to Australia.
APA Australian References.
There is NO proforma provided but please use the structure and headings in the assignment instructions which I have added. Please read the assignment instructions very carefully (i.e. document “How to write up the Practical Report”)
Title /1
Introduction
– Aim /2
– Background/ literature review /10
– Hypothesis /2
Method
– Design /2
– Participants /2
– Measures/materials /10
– Procedure /2
Data analysis /4
References /4
Spelling/grammar /2
Improvements/changes based on feedback /4
Total 45 marks
It has asked for the sketch a map of the zoo enclosure which I have added for your writer as well.
Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo Sample Answer
Title: The effectiveness of food-based enrichment on Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris) at Adelaide Zoo
Introduction
This study aims at quantifying effects of food-based enrichment on Sumatran tigers at Adelaide Zoo (Australia). The study aims to compare and quantify the impacts of the various types of enrichment (feeding) on Sumatran tigers’ in captivity physiological response (exploring, resting and stereotypic behaviors) in captive Sumatran tigers. The study will examine the relationship between captive behavior and 2 sets of variables (environmental variables and animal variables) in order to establish a series of recommendations generated by the study findings; so as to enhance the management and enrichment programs for Sumatran tigers in captivity.
Background/literature review
The Sumatran tiger is subspecies of tiger found in the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is listed as a critically endangered species in the 2008 IUCN Red List. The population estimates in 2008 were ranging between 441 and 679 Sumatran tigers. This tiger subspecies is among the smallest tiger subspecies. The males weigh about 220-310 lbs and length 2.2-2.55 m. The female weighs about 165-243 lbs and 2.15-2.30 m. In Nature, Sumatran tigers are solitary animals and have homes that range from 50-1000km2 (Goodrich et al. 2015). The Sumatran tigers possess individual hunting techniques which rely on stalking, concealment and sudden rush to catch its prey. A tigress feeds about 5-6kg of meat in one day in order to maintain proper health. A Sumatran tiger main prey is a medium-sized deer, wild boar, birds, monkeys, and fish. They cannot climb very well which implies those preys that climb up very high escapes the predation. Females’ hunts within its territory, but males can overlap and hunt territories of the other females (Pitsko, 2003).
Sumatran tigers are adaptable species and are able to tolerate a wide range of rainfall and temperature regimes. They live in a diverse range of habitats but generally live in areas where their preys are found. This typically in forest edge habitat, near water and with tall grass. The wet conditions are ideal for this subspecies. They swim efficiently and are able to chase its prey in the water. Understanding these environmental and social habitats established a basis for what the Sumatran tigers need in captive environs. However, it important to understand that some of the habitats provide huge home range size to enable them to stalk and chase the prey and it is challenging to provide exact habitat environment in captivity. Establishing this sufficient environmental enrichment can help attend to these intrinsic wild characters (de Azevedo et al. 2013).
Most studies have been conducted on the effects of captivity in the well being of felids. Research indicated that the felids have poor coping ability to captivity. In a study conducted on multi-species on infant mortality rates on captivity animals, three-quarters of the species at risk was felids. This is attributable to the fact that felids are a solitary carnivore, and therefore introducing mates is a dangerous process that leads to injury and deaths (Clubb and Manson, 2007). The stress psychological response includes door pounding and pacing. Enrichment for Sumatran tigers is based on their natural history. The most common technique is to enhance the environments of the captive animals, but the large felids such as Sumatran tigers have proven to be resistant to the effects of enrichment probably due to their natural complex characters. The felids personality and temperament influence their response to the enriched environment. In addition, they lack space in the environments which makes it challenging for them to accommodate their tendencies of large ranging (Szokalski, Litchfield, & Foster, 2012a).
The wide-ranging of the Sumatran tigers makes them experience frequent new environments; thus, the static zoo environments inhibit the exhibition of the tiger’s natural behaviors. Furthermore, the Sumatran tiger’s natural methods of prey hunting cannot be performed due to public ethical concerns. This implies that effective enrichment of the Sumatran tigers should be altered constantly in order to encourage the natural behaviors (Adelaide Zoo, 2013).
Environmental enrichment has become a core component of animal husbandry regimes of animals in captivity. The concept is defined as a principle that aims at enhancing the welfare of animals of captivity by providing an environment that supports stimuli required for their psychological and physiological health. There are various techniques that have been applied to enrich the environment includes feeding enrichment which has been associated with a reduction of undesirable behaviors of captive animals (Szokalski, Litchfield, & Foster, 2012b).
The first technique is sensory stimulating enrichment such as visual, auditory, and olfactory. The second category of feeding enrichments which is somewhat challenging but generally involves packaging of food to be in a way that will encourage the captive animal to search for the food as they would have done in their natural environments. The third enrichment strategy includes the introduction of objects to promote the investigatory and exploratory behavior of the captive animal. For instance, hiding food in special places entice the captive animals to practice their hunting behaviors. The food hidden in the logs and wood blocks can be done to satisfy the animal scratching behavior in absence of trees. Stimulating scents (such as natural vegetation/ substrate) can be used for enrichment where it is spread throughout enclosures such as the concrete enclosures (Szokalski, Litchfield, & Foster, 2012a).
The other forms include social enrichment which involves training the animal to have positive social action. Environmental enrichment improves animals biological functioning. Some goals of enrichment include increased activity, stimulate a diverse range of behaviors and reduction of abnormal behaviors in captive animals. The environmental enrichment processes are vital in that they help protect the captive animals to enable them to display natural behaviors to the public and to increase reproductive success. Adding natural substrate such as water, rocks, vegetation features, and natural substrate not only makes the environments habitable by the animals but also enhances the educational value of zoo exhibits of visitors (de Azevedo et al. 2013).
Stereotypic behaviors are abnormal behavior that animals in captivity develop when their environments do not allow them to carry out their intrinsic behavior. In captivity, tigers face psychological effects due to confinement making them not to move freely. The limited space denies them a natural social life which makes them exhibit stereotypic behaviors such as head-bobbing, compulsive licking, walking in circles, bar biting, pacing and even self-mutilation (Miller, Leighty, & Bettinger, 2013). To prevent abnormal behavior, it is important to get their new environment enriched.
To understand the behavior of the animal in captivity better, it is important to understand how they spend their time. This is well understood by calculating the Activity /time budget. Activity budget refers to measuring of animals in captivity activities. This is important as it aids in evaluating the impact of altering the animal’s habitat size, content, and impacts of environmental enrichment. The first stage in developing activity budget, one should produce an ethogram which outlines the behaviors exhibited by the species. An example of a Sumatran tiger ethogram that will be used in this study is shown in appendix 1 (Van Metter et al. 2008).
To understand these animal behaviors better, most animal studies apply the ABA research design. This is a research design that generally establishes a baseline condition before the introduction of an intervention (A), the collecting data during the intervention (B) and after the intervention (A). This research design is recommended because after establishing the baseline data, the researcher is able to learn how they perform without treatment, and the results are compared with those obtained during and after implementation of the intervention. This helps one in obtaining reliable and accurate measurements of the controlled variables and enables one to understand how each variable influence the animal in captivity behavior (Pitsko, 2003).
When enrichment is done in captive Sumatran tigers environments, the study hypothesizes that there will be the difference in (better improvement) physiological response in captive Sumatran tigers under intervention as compared to the baseline. It is expected that the animal’s psychological response will improve in situations where there is a better relationship between the captive behavior and environment variables. The study also anticipates some inter-specific variance depending on the kind of enrichment due to intrinsic differences between Sumatran tigers.
Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo Research Method
The study will be conducted at Adelaide Zoo in Australia, using the Sumatran tigers during summers. The study will begin with pilot testing during the beginning of the summer to establish baseline data based on husbandry practices and zoo protocols. The study will apply the within-subject design which basically entails collecting data before, during and post implementation of environmental enrichment. This design is appropriate for his study as it allows the felid to serve to provide its baseline data, that is the Sumatran tiger serve as its own control (Graziano and Raulin, 2007).
The study research method is the baseline approach (ABA) in order to monitor the tigers for 30 days. There are will be two trials for each technique of enrichment. Each trial will take 5 days consecutively. These trials will be done at the beginning of the summer. The Sumatran tiger behavioral responses in feeding enrichment technique observed will be recorded. The behavioral responses will be recorded at the same time every day so as to account for any potential confounding effects. The observation will be quantified according to the duration as well as the frequency of the behavior. The activity budgets will be compared to determine if the enrichment has caused alteration activity or budgets.
The study participants are three Sumatran tigers in at Adelaide Zoo, one male and females aged between 14-19 years. These animals are contained in spate containers due to their solitary character.
Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo and Environmental Measures/ materials
The following environmental measures and materials that will be evaluated in this study include the enclosure size, vegetation, substrate, pool availability and enrichment items available. These factors are evaluated because they are important aspects of animal husbandry. Each of the variables will be compared in correlation to the behavioral data so as to identify what enrichment influences stereotypic behavior of tigers in captivity. A sketch of the enclosure is shown in fig. 1 below (Pitsko, 2003).
Fig1. Map and dimension of Sumatran tiger zoo enclosure at Adelaide zoo (not to scale)
Enclosure size variable is investigated because it is shown to have a significant correlation between the enclosure size and captive animal movement. A large space provides an opportunity for the animal to stalk, run, chase as well as play. These behaviors animals to fully expend their energy and muscles, and is used for hunting when they return to the wild (Szokalski, Litchfield, & Foster, 2012a).
Feeding enrichment that will be investigated is hiding the food in logs and enrichment structures in order to study search and capture time. This aims at evaluating extraction time, processing time and whether or not increases the number and feeding times of Sumatran tigers in captivity. This type of feeding enrichment is cost effective and safe. An unnatural substrate such as concrete has been associated with increased stereotypic behavior of animals in captivity. The study will evaluate the behavioral responses in various substrates (Pitsko, 2003).
Vegetation measure is important because it used in the natural environment by the captive animals to provide concealment and for shade. The pool availability is also important because Sumatran tigers swim avidly. In this construct, the presence of a pool provides alternate enrichment. The study will tally the total number of enrichment items in each enclosure and ranked as high, low or medium. The enrichment items that will be investigated include plants, logs, water pool, hiding spots, space to run and the ability to see other animals (Skibiel, Trevino, and Naugher, 2007).
Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo Essay Writing Procedure
Sumatran tiger’s behavioral response will be recorded from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm so as to avoid bias due to confounding variables. The observation will be done simultaneously between the three tigers. Before starting the experimental manipulation, pilot testing will be conducted so as to get the normal pattern behavior. Therefore, the first week of the experiment will be done without implementing the feeding enrichment in order to observe the Sumatran tiger’s natural behaviors under captivity. Randomized observation will be done so as to eliminate seasonal confounding effects. This study will establish baseline behavioral responses and activity budget.
On the second week of the experiment, the enrichment will be added so as to evaluate if the enrichment has a positive or negative impact on the animal in captivity. The feeding enrichment will be done by hiding food within their enclosure so as to see the behavioral response. Same techniques used in the pilot study will be applied. The type and duration of behavioral responses manifested by the animals will be recorded using the JWatcher software, which will facilitate the specific behavioral responses, which will be classified based on category. These categories will be defined by ethogram. The study activity budget will be generated from pilot testing findings. The enrichment will be removed and the tiger’s behavioral responses will be observed again. This is important as it will help establish the identical situation and to generate accurate data between.
Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo Data analysis
For each Sumatran tiger, the duration of active, stereotypic and inactive behavior and the activity budget before, during and post-enrichment implementation. The data collected using JWatcher will be analyzed to evaluate the statistical differences during the experiment. The intervention activity budget will be compared activity budget during the application of enrichment to see if the enrichment increases active, inactive behaviors and stereotypic behaviors. The data will be analyzed using T-test to assess the measure of deviation and presented as a bar graph and percentage (de Azevedo et al. 2013).
Food Enrichment on Sumatran Tigers at Adelaide Zoo References
Adelaide Zoo. (2016). Tiger Sumatran. In: Adelaide Zoo Education Service. Retrieved from
http://www.zoossa.com.au
de Azevedo, C. S., Lima, M. F. F., Cipreste, C. F., Young, R. J., & Rodrigues, M. (2013).Using environmental enrichment to reduce the expression of abnormal behaviors in Greater Rhea Rhea americana at Belo Horizonte Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook, 47(1), 163-170.
Clubb R., and Mason, G.J. (2007). Natural behavioral biology as a risk factor in carnivore welfare: How analysing species differences could help zoos improve enclosures. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 102(3-4):303-328.
Goodrich, J., Lynam, A., Miquelle, D., Wibisono, H., Kawanishi, K., Pattanavibool, A., … & Karanth, U. (2015). Panthera tigris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e. T15955A50659951.
Graziano, A., and Raulin, M. (2007). Research methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Miller A., Leighty K.A. & Bettinger T.L. (2013). Behavioral Analysis of Tiger Night Housing Practices, Zoo Biology, 1-6. DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21057
Pitsko, L. E. (2003). Wild tigers in captivity: A study of the effects of the captive environment on tiger behavior (Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University).
Szokalski, M. S., Litchfield, C. A., & Foster, W. K. (2012a). Enrichment for captive tigers (Panthera tigris): Current knowledge and future directions. Applied Animal Behavior Science, 139(1), 1-9.
Szokalski, M., Litchfield, C., and Foster, W. (2012b). Human-big cat interactions in captivity theses (Online from the University of South Australia).
Skibiel, A.L., Trevino, H.S., and Naugher, K. (2007). Comparison of several types of enrichment for captive felids. Zoo Biology 26:371-381
Van Metter JE, Harriger MD, and Bolen RH. (2008). Environmental enrichment utilizing stimulus objects for African lions (Panthera leo Leo) and Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae). BIOS 79(1):7-16.
Appendix 1
* ethogram modeled from Skibiel et al. (2007) and Van Metter et al. (2008).
