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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences
The Examination Of Enrichment Using Space And Food For African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana) At The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Charlotte Hacker
The Examination Of Enrichment Using Space And Food For African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana) At The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Charlotte Hacker
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
Concern for elephant welfare in zoological facilities has prompted a number of exhibit and management modifications, including those involving enrichment. Knowledge of how these changes impact measures of health and wellbeing, such as elephant movement and behavior, is crucial as the effects of multiple enrichment types and their interactions are largely understudied. The present study used observations and GPS unit collected data to determine the effects of space and food on the walking distance and behavior of thirteen African elephants, whose dominance structure was ascertained by the handlers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (SDZSP). This facility has two …
Habituation To Auditory Stimuli By Captive African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Sarah Elizabeth Goodyear
Habituation To Auditory Stimuli By Captive African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Sarah Elizabeth Goodyear
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
Elephants are cognitive species that exhibit many types of learning. Associative, social, and insight learning have been investigated with elephants, but one of the simplest forms, habituation, has not. As an individual learns that a stimulus is neither harmful nor beneficial, it will decrease its response to the stimulus through the process of habituation. Elephants possess a well-developed sensory system and may habituate to stimuli that could be used for enrichment and/or management. The aim of this study was to examine the habituation process of elephants in response to repeated presentations of two auditory stimuli –buzzing by a disturbed beehive …