Animal Behaviour and Management
Online ISSN : 2435-0397
Volume 58, Issue 4
Displaying 1-4 of 4 articles from this issue
  • Toshiaki INENAGA, Ryoto MATSUDA, Ikumi FUBUKI, Kouta YAMAZAKI, Masahir ...
    2022 Volume 58 Issue 4 Pages 173-181
    Published: December 25, 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Although in some European countries, slow-growing broilers are increasing in number, corresponding to the demands for animal welfare, it is unpopular in Japan. Therefore, the concept of slow-growing broilers needs to be accepted by more Japanese farmers and consumers. Here, branded commercial chicken, produced by crossing two breeds of slow-growing broilers, were raised, and growth performance, the soundness of locomotives, behaviors, and anatomical traits were assessed and compared with those of fast-growing broilers.

    Compared with the fast-growing broilers, the slow-growing broilers showed significantly lighter body weights and daily weight gain. The gait scores, valgus angles, and scores of breast plumage dirtiness were significantly lower in the slow-growing broilers. Based on our behavioral observation, the slow-growing broilers spent significantly more time moving and standing. Lastly, we conducted anatomical studies and discovered that the weights of the breast meat in the slow-growing broilers were significantly lighter. Additionally, the slow-growing broilers had heavier femur weights than the fast-growing broilers. From these studies, it was clarified that the deterioration of gait abilities was less in slow-growing broilers, implying that slow-growing broilers could be used to produce chicken meat with higher welfare levels.

    Download PDF (1197K)
Original article
  • Eri IWATA, Hiroki TERAYAMA, Hajime ISHIKAWA, Satomi SUZUKI, Ryoko SAKA ...
    2022 Volume 58 Issue 4 Pages 182-193
    Published: December 25, 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    We analyzed the behavioral characteristics and plasma cortisol levels in 17 captive dolphins from three Japanese facilities that participated in human-dolphin interaction programs. The behavioral data for each individual were collected on working days using the scan sampling method, and principal component analysis was used to calculate the principal component score of each dataset, which suggested that the behavioral characteristics of each individual differed by facility. Blood samples were collected from individuals who allowed blood to be drawn voluntarily at both pre- and post-working hours to measure plasma cortisol concentrations. Plasma cortisol concentrations did not differ significantly between the pre- and post-working hours (z = 0.918, P = 0.359). The post-:pre-working ratio of plasma cortisol concentration was significantly negatively correlated with training frequency (r = −0.495, P = 0.012), but not with the number of visitors (r = −0.226, P = 0.301). These results suggest that the stress levels and behavioral characteristics of dolphins maintained in marine facilities are more strongly influenced by how they interact with trainers than by the regularity of interactions with visitors.

    Download PDF (750K)
  • Kazuyuki BAN, Hirofumi NOGAMI, Kazutoshi TAKAMI
    2022 Volume 58 Issue 4 Pages 194-203
    Published: December 25, 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Deaths and injuries caused by zoo animals provoke terrible human and social damage, but the exact number of such accidents is not known. To promote zoo safety measures, this study quantitatively evaluated human fatal and injury accidents caused by zoo animals in Japan. Using five newspaper databases, we searched approximately 72 years’ worth of articles for zoo animal accidents, and recorded the animal species and victims involved along with their precipitating circumstances. The study identified 107 accidents across 54 zoos, involving 122 people (25 deaths, 50 serious injuries, 39 minor injuries, and 8 unknown). Most keeper accidents occurred while they were in the same enclosure as elephants (Elephantidae) or operating doors of enclosures housing big cats (Felidae), and these accidents are increasing in recent years. Conversely, most visitor accidents were caused by incursion into the habitats of bears (Ursidae) and other animals, but no such incidents have occurred since the 1990s. Elephant-related accidents are expected to decrease because their care and interactions have been switched from free contact to protected contact. New countermeasures against accidents related to door operations in big cat habitats should be prioritized instead.

    Download PDF (1108K)
  • Takeshi YASUE, Karin KAWAKAMI, Junko TSUKAMOTO
    2022 Volume 58 Issue 4 Pages 204-211
    Published: December 25, 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: January 27, 2023
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    For better management practices, the habitat use by ten community cats managed outdoors in the agricultural university campus (about 12 ha) that includes a lot of green space was compared individually. The cat’s visit to the feeding sites was recorded every day from June 1st to December 31st, 2020. The use of the cat shelter built by carrier boxes near the feeding site was observed for 24 hours continuously for about ten days every month from September to December using an infrared sensor camera. The cat’s position was collected at 1-minute intervals by attaching a collar with a GPS logger, and a 24-hour home range was measured from September to October. The shelter was used by two kittens almost every day and was only used by two specific adults. They used it on rainy days (Mean±SD:352.5±172.2 minutes) longer than on other days (110.8±66.3 minutes) (P<0.05). In the first month of this study, four adult cats did not visit the feeding sites for nearly a week, but the percentage of visiting days throughout the entire period was 84 to 100% for all cats, including the cat never used the shelter. One male cat, which was castrated at the beginning of the study, had the daily home range of 12.4-16.3 ha and had multiple core areas outside the campus in addition to the core area near the feeding sites. However, the other individuals had the daily home range of 0.8 to 5.5 ha, regardless of the sex or the use of the shelter, and were mostly confined to the university campus.

    Download PDF (1637K)
feedback
Top