Influence of visitors on pausing behavior during following in guinea pigs

Abstract

In this study, 22 zoo-housed guinea pigs (14 castration, 8 females, average age of 47 ± 6 months) were used. We investigated the relationship between pausing behavior during following (frequency of behavior and number of individuals) at each location (area A, B, C and D) of guinea pigs and the number of visitors at each location (area A, B, C and D) and the personal characteristics (age and sex) of the guinea pigs. On the outbound trip, there was a significantly high negative correlation between the number of visitors in area A and the number of guinea pig pauses in area B (P < 0.01). On the return trip, there was a significantly high negative correlation between the number of visitors in area D and the number of guinea pig pauses in area C (P < 0.05). There was also a significantly high positive correlation between the number of visitors in area D and the number of guinea pig pauses in area D (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the pausing behavior of zoo-housed guinea pigs during events in which they perform following behavior may be influenced by the viewing location of visitors and the number of visitors, rather than the structure of the movement path of housed guinea pigs.