Can an enrichment programme with novel manipulative and scent stimuli change the behaviour of zoo-housed European wildcats? A case study
Affiliation
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY, United KingdomIssue Date
2023-05-26
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Objects and semiochemicals may be used as enrichment in zoos. Domestic cats release Fraction 3 of Facial Pheromone (F3) by rubbing the muzzle to convey relational and territorial information. We aimed to evaluate whether and how the introduction of novel objects and scent stimuli could change the behaviour of one group (N = 5 subjects) of adult European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) hosted at Parco Natura Viva-Garda Zoological Park, Italy. We assessed the behavioural changes following the introduction of novel objects (blocks and rags) and scent (synthetic F3) via observations over four experimental conditions (baseline, rags, F3 rags, blocks) using continuous focal animal sampling. Our results showed that no behavioural differences were found between the different conditions and the baseline, except for the condition with blocks when significantly less exploration was observed. Between conditions, wildcats performed significantly less individual explorative, affiliative, and agonistic behaviours, but more individual inactivity, when exposed to rags after F3 administration. Our findings suggest that the enrichment programme did not substantively affect the behaviour of the zoo-housed wildcats. However, the behavioural differences recorded between conditions suggest that, while novel objects introduced as visual stimuli (blocks) do not affect the wildcat behaviour, novel manipulative objects (rags) might impact their behaviour. Moreover, the changes in affiliative and agonistic behaviours displayed during the condition with exposure to rags sprayed with F3 suggest that such semiochemical could play an appeasement role within this study group.Citation
Bertoni, V., Regaiolli, B., Cozzi, A., Vaglio, S. et al (2023) Can an Enrichment Programme with Novel Manipulative and Scent Stimuli Change the Behaviour of Zoo-Housed European Wildcats? A Case Study, Animals, 13 (11), Article no. 1762. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111762Journal
AnimalsAdditional Links
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/11/1762Type
Journal articleLanguage
enDescription
© 2023 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111762ISSN
2076-2615EISSN
2076-2615Sponsors
This study received no external funding. Publication fees were covered by the University of Wolverhampton’s Research Investment Fund scheme—phase 4 (Biosciences Research Project).ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3390/ani13111762
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