Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Keyword
-
- Animal protection (2)
- Land development (2)
- Urbanization (2)
- Wildlife management (2)
- Animal emotions (1)
-
- Animal play (1)
- Animal welfare (1)
- Biocentric anthropomorphism (1)
- Canids (1)
- Captive animals (1)
- Companion animals (1)
- Critical anthropomorphism (1)
- Immunocontraception (1)
- Immunosterilization (1)
- Mortality control (1)
- Olfactory communication (1)
- Personhood (1)
- Scent-marking (1)
- Social morality (1)
- Spirituality (1)
- Territorial behavior (1)
- Wildlife conservation (1)
- Wildlife populations (1)
- Zoo animals (1)
- Zoo management (1)
Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Evolution Of Animal Play, Emotions, And Social Morality: On Science, Theology, Spirituality, Personhood, And Love, Marc Bekoff
The Evolution Of Animal Play, Emotions, And Social Morality: On Science, Theology, Spirituality, Personhood, And Love, Marc Bekoff
Attitudes Towards Animals Collection
My essay first takes me into the arena in which science, spirituality, and theology meet. I comment on the enterprise of science and how scientists could well benefit from reciprocal interactions with theologians and religious leaders. Next, I discuss the evolution of social morality and the ways in which various aspects of social play behavior relate to the notion of “behaving fairly.” The contributions of spiritual and religious perspectives are important in our coming to a fuller understanding of the evolution of morality. I go on to discuss animal emotions, the concept of personhood, and how our special relationships with …
Interactions Between Shoal Size And Conformity In Guppy Social Foraging, Rachel L. Day, Tom Macdonald, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland, Simon M. Reader
Interactions Between Shoal Size And Conformity In Guppy Social Foraging, Rachel L. Day, Tom Macdonald, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland, Simon M. Reader
Sentience Collection
Previous experimental studies have established that shoaling fish forage more effectively in large than small groups. We investigated how shoal size affects the foraging efficiency of laboratory populations of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, exposed to different foraging tasks. Experiment 1 confirmed the prediction that in open water the first fish and focal fish of larger shoals locate food faster than in smaller shoals. However, a second experiment, in which shoals of fish were required to swim through a hole in an opaque partition to locate food, found the reverse pattern: smaller shoals learned to complete the task faster than large …
Familiarity Facilitates Social Learning Of Foraging Behaviour In The Guppy, Will Swaney, Jeremy Kendal, Hannah Capon, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland
Familiarity Facilitates Social Learning Of Foraging Behaviour In The Guppy, Will Swaney, Jeremy Kendal, Hannah Capon, Culum Brown, Kevin N. Laland
Sentience Collection
Previous studies have shown that guppies, Poecilia reticulata, can learn the route to a food source by shoaling with knowledgeable conspecifics, and prefer to shoal with experienced foragers and familiar fish. We tested the hypothesis that guppies would learn more effectively from (1) familiar than unfamiliar demonstrators and (2) well-trained than poorly trained demonstrators. Demonstrator fish were given experience in swimming a route to a food source and then introduced into shoals of untrained observer guppies; the spread of this foraging skill was recorded over 15 trials. The demonstrators were either familiar or unfamiliar to the observers and either well …
Observations Of Scent-Marking And Discriminating Self From Others By A Domestic Dog (Canis Familiaris): Tales Of Displaced Yellow Snow, Marc Bekoff
Ethology Collection
Little is known about what stimuli trigger urinating or scent-marking in domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, or their wild relatives. While it is often suggested that the urine of other animals influences urinating and scent-marking patterns in canids, this has not been verified experimentally. To investigate the role of urine in eliciting urinating and marking, in this pilot study I moved urine-saturated snow (‘yellow snow’) from place-to-place during five winters to compare the responses of an adult male domestic dog, Jethro, to his own and others’ urine. Jethro spent less time sniffing his own urine than that of other males or …
Assessing The ‘Whole Animal’: A Free Choice Profiling Approach, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Tony E.A. Hunter, Michael T. Mendl, Alistair B. Lawrence
Assessing The ‘Whole Animal’: A Free Choice Profiling Approach, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Tony E.A. Hunter, Michael T. Mendl, Alistair B. Lawrence
Sentience Collection
The qualitative assessment of animal behaviour summarizes the different aspects of an animal’s dynamic style of interaction with the environment, using descriptors such as ‘confident’, ‘nervous’, ‘calm’ or ‘excitable’. Scientists frequently use such terms in studies of animal personality and temperament, but, wary of anthropomorphism, are reluctant to do so in studies of animal welfare. We hypothesize that qualitative behaviour assessment, in describing behaviour as an expressive process, may have a stronger observational foundation than is currently recognized, and may be of use as an integrative welfare assessment tool. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the inter- and intraobserver reliability …
Mammalian Play: Training For The Unexpected, Marek Špinka, Ruth C. Newberry, Marc Bekoff
Mammalian Play: Training For The Unexpected, Marek Špinka, Ruth C. Newberry, Marc Bekoff
Ethology Collection
In this review, we present a new conceptual framework for the study of play behavior, a hitherto puzzling array of seemingly purposeless and unrelated behavioral elements that are recognizable as play throughout the mammalian lineage. Our major new functional hypothesis is that play enables animals to develop flexible kinematic and emotional responses to unexpected events in which they experience a sudden loss of control. Specifically, we propose that play functions to increase the versatility of movements used to recover from sudden shock such as loss of balance and falling over, and to enhance the ability of animals to cope emotionally …
Social Play Behaviour: Cooperation, Fairness, Trust, And The Evolution Of Morality, Marc Bekoff
Social Play Behaviour: Cooperation, Fairness, Trust, And The Evolution Of Morality, Marc Bekoff
Ethology Collection
No abstract provided.
Urban Wildlife Control: It Starts In Our Own Backyard, John Hadidian
Urban Wildlife Control: It Starts In Our Own Backyard, John Hadidian
Conservation Collection
No abstract provided.
Is There A Place In The World For Zoos? / Another View Of Zoos, David Hancocks, Richard Farinato
Is There A Place In The World For Zoos? / Another View Of Zoos, David Hancocks, Richard Farinato
State of the Animals 2001
We human animals make rapid technological and cultural advancements because we have the ability to pass definitive information to succeeding generations. But we also accept too much from the past without challenge. The good, the bad, and the indifferent are muddled together, accumulating in layers that smother each succeeding age. Cultural mores ranging from the silly to the profane, from charming to dangerous, clutter our world. They exist only because, as the British are wont to say, “We have always done things this way.” One very troubling example is the public zoological parks found in almost every city: they are …
Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian, Sydney Smith
Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian, Sydney Smith
State of the Animals 2001
Despite the potential for difficulty, there are several reasons why urban wildlife should be valued and better understood. First is its scientific and heuristic value. Urban wildlife populations are essentially parts of ongoing natural experiments in adaptation to anthropogenic stress. How urban animals are affected by human activities— and how they cope with them— can represent, on a highly accelerated scale, a model of what is happening to species in other biomes. No other wild animals live in such intimate contact and under such constant constraint from human activities as do synanthropes. Second, urban animals are exposed to many environmental …
Fertility Control In Animals, Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Allen T. Rutberg
Fertility Control In Animals, Jay F. Kirkpatrick, Allen T. Rutberg
State of the Animals 2001
There are, effectively, only two choices for actively managing the size of animal populations: reducing the birth rate and increasing the death rate. (Local population size may also be controlled by movement of individuals in and out; but when the size of animal populations concerns us, movement of individuals merely relocates the concerns. We are not absolved of our responsibility for animals simply because they go somewhere else.) Killing certainly can reduce and even destroy wildlife populations if enough animals of the right description are removed from the population. Until the last decade of the twentieth century, however, fertility control …
The Gray Wolves (Canis Lupus) Of British Columbia’S Coastal Rainforests, Chris T. Darimont, Paul C. Paquet
The Gray Wolves (Canis Lupus) Of British Columbia’S Coastal Rainforests, Chris T. Darimont, Paul C. Paquet
Biogeography and Ecological Opportunity Collection
The mainland coast of British Columbia (BC) is a remote area that is comparatively free from human-caused disturbance. However, concerns about current and anticipated increases in industrial forestry activity have prompted conservation biologists to investigate the biota in this understudied region. We were commissioned by the Raincoast Conservation Society to study coastal wolves so that information could be incorporated into ongoing conservation planning and education efforts. The summer of 2000 marked the pilot season of a multi-year research project. Our team spent more than 240 person days in the field during the summer and fall seasons. We surveyed 18 mainland …