Animal Behaviour and Management
Online ISSN : 2435-0397
Volume 56, Issue 3
Displaying 1-1 of 1 articles from this issue
Original article
  • Yosuke HATTA, Maho YAMANAKA, Takahiro OGI, Keisuke NANTO, Hideaki HAYA ...
    2020 Volume 56 Issue 3 Pages 85-93
    Published: September 25, 2020
    Released on J-STAGE: November 07, 2020
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    It has been reported relationship between visitor and behavior of exhibited animal in zoo. In zoo, we consider that the more visitors go to see popular animal like giraffe. Additionally, it is said the herbivores such as giraffe are very cautious. Therefore, we deduce that captive giraffe is more likely to be influenced by visitors in zoo. In this study, we researched relationship between the behavior of captive giraffe and the number of visitors in giraffe exhibition area. We used three captive giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) at Ishikawa Zoo in Ishikawa Prefecture. The giraffe average age was about 3 years old. We recorded the giraffe behavior by camera and visually counted the number of visitors on weekdays (Monday to Friday) and holidays (Saturday, Sunday and public holiday). The experiment was performed for 6 days (3 weekdays and 3 holidays) between October and November 2019. Frequency of exploring was significantly higher on holidays than on weekdays (P < 0.01). Eating time was significantly lower on holidays than on weekdays (P < 0.01). Exploring and moving time was significantly higher on holidays than on weekdays (P < 0.05). There was significant negative correlation between frequency of eating and the number of visitors on holidays (P < 0.01). In addition, there was significant negative correlation between frequency of exploring and the number of visitors on weekdays (P < 0.01) and holidays (P < 0.05). These results suggested that behavior of captive giraffe eating and exploring are closely related to the number of visitors.

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