Assessing animal welfare, other than animal health, is of vital importance for all animal species, including domestic, farm, and wild animals held in captive settings. Zoological institutions have nowadays a key role in conservation, research and education, and take part in many ex-situ programs, which constitute a valid instrument in order to ensure the survival of endangered species. In order to improve the living conditions of zoo animals, we should not only focus on their physical and physiological wellbeing, but we should also assess the animals’ psychological health by studying their behaviour. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) is a reliable and repeatable methodology already in use for many species, mostly farm and domestic animals, such as cattle, sheep and goats, horses and donkeys, poultry, swine, shelter dog, but also for wild species such as brown bears, giraffes and captive elephants. In this study, three fixed lists of terms will be compared in order to establish the most accurate one to use when dealing with Striped hyenas (Hyaena hyaena) in captive settings. The three lists undergoing investigation include two pre-existing fixed lists of terms developed for calves and for shelter dogs. The third list has been developed by Free Choice Profiling (FCP) by a group of Animal Care students from the University of Padua, by looking at four different videos of two striped hyenas held in a zoo in the north-eastern part of Italy. A convenience sample of 99 students, respectively second year students of Animal Care (AC2), third year students of Animal Care (AC3) and second year students of Veterinary Medicine (MV2), observed the videos and scored for each of them the Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) previously generated. Each student was assigned with one of the three lists, and the lists were distributed randomly among students. All students were familiar with QBA and VAS, and unfamiliar with the videos of striped hyenas. For each list, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) summarized the scores of the 20 descriptors. Moreover, scores were analysed according to the group of student and to the sex and location of the two hyenas.
La valutazione del benessere animale, oltre alla loro salute, è di vitale importanza per tutte le specie animali, compresi animali domestici, da fattoria e animali selvatici tenuti in cattività. Le istituzioni zoologiche hanno oggigiorno un ruolo chiave nella conservazione, nella ricerca e nell'educazione e partecipano a numerosi programmi ex situ, che costituiscono un valido strumento per garantire la sopravvivenza delle specie in via di estinzione. Per migliorare le condizioni di vita degli animali dei giardini zoologici, non dovremmo concentrarci solo sul loro benessere fisico e fisiologico, ma dovremmo anche valutare la salute psicologica degli animali studiando il loro comportamento. La Valutazione Comportamentale Qualitativa (QBA) è una metodologia affidabile e ripetibile già in uso per molte specie, soprattutto animali da reddito e domestici, come bovini, ovini e caprini, cavalli e asini, pollame, suini, cani da ricovero, ma anche per specie selvatiche come come orsi bruni, giraffe ed elefanti in cattività. In questo studio, verranno confrontati tre elenchi fissi di termini al fine di stabilire quello più accurato da utilizzare quando si tratta di iene striate (Hyaena hyaena) in ambienti in cattività. I tre elenchi oggetto di indagine includono due elenchi fissi preesistenti di termini sviluppati per i vitelli e per i cani da ricovero. La terza lista è stata elaborata da Free Choice Profiling (FCP) da un gruppo di studenti di Animal Care dell'Università di Padova, guardando quattro diversi video di due iene striate tenute in uno zoo nel nord-est dell'Italia. Un campione di convenienza di 99 studenti, rispettivamente studenti del secondo anno di Animal Care (AC2), studenti del terzo anno di Animal Care (AC3) e studenti del secondo anno di Medicina Veterinaria (MV2), ha osservato i video e ha assegnato a ciascuno di essi il Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) precedentemente generate. Ad ogni studente è stata assegnata una delle tre liste e le liste sono state distribuite in modo casuale tra gli studenti. Tutti gli studenti conoscevano QBA e VAS e non conoscevano i video delle iene striate. Per ogni elenco, l'analisi delle componenti principali (PCA) ha riassunto i punteggi dei 20 descrittori. Inoltre, i punteggi sono stati analizzati in base al gruppo di studenti e al sesso e alla posizione delle due iene.
Development of a fixed list of terms for the Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) in captive settings.
BEGHETTO, BEATRICE
2022/2023
Abstract
Assessing animal welfare, other than animal health, is of vital importance for all animal species, including domestic, farm, and wild animals held in captive settings. Zoological institutions have nowadays a key role in conservation, research and education, and take part in many ex-situ programs, which constitute a valid instrument in order to ensure the survival of endangered species. In order to improve the living conditions of zoo animals, we should not only focus on their physical and physiological wellbeing, but we should also assess the animals’ psychological health by studying their behaviour. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) is a reliable and repeatable methodology already in use for many species, mostly farm and domestic animals, such as cattle, sheep and goats, horses and donkeys, poultry, swine, shelter dog, but also for wild species such as brown bears, giraffes and captive elephants. In this study, three fixed lists of terms will be compared in order to establish the most accurate one to use when dealing with Striped hyenas (Hyaena hyaena) in captive settings. The three lists undergoing investigation include two pre-existing fixed lists of terms developed for calves and for shelter dogs. The third list has been developed by Free Choice Profiling (FCP) by a group of Animal Care students from the University of Padua, by looking at four different videos of two striped hyenas held in a zoo in the north-eastern part of Italy. A convenience sample of 99 students, respectively second year students of Animal Care (AC2), third year students of Animal Care (AC3) and second year students of Veterinary Medicine (MV2), observed the videos and scored for each of them the Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) previously generated. Each student was assigned with one of the three lists, and the lists were distributed randomly among students. All students were familiar with QBA and VAS, and unfamiliar with the videos of striped hyenas. For each list, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) summarized the scores of the 20 descriptors. Moreover, scores were analysed according to the group of student and to the sex and location of the two hyenas.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/45982