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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology
Residency And Sociality Analysis Of Skin Lesions In Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Of The St. Johns River, Fl, Brittney Divittore-Goodrum
Residency And Sociality Analysis Of Skin Lesions In Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Of The St. Johns River, Fl, Brittney Divittore-Goodrum
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Photo analysis of skin lesions is a non-invasive method to measure the health of cetacean populations. The St. Johns River (SJR) in NE Florida is an estuarine system inhabited by bottlenose dolphins that is characterized by high levels of anthropogenic activity, which can impact dolphin health. Social transmission of disease may influence lesion formation in dolphins; thus this study aimed to determine if skin lesion prevalence and body coverage differed based on 1) the amount of time spent in the SJR annually and 2) sociality measures. The dataset was restricted to three 12-month periods, based on the occurrence of an …
Implementing Welfare Science: Case Studies In Evidence-Based Zoo Management, Marisa Suzanne Spain
Implementing Welfare Science: Case Studies In Evidence-Based Zoo Management, Marisa Suzanne Spain
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Animal welfare science is a field that focuses on how we can improve the lives and well-being of animals in human care. Modern welfare science has moved away from simply preventing suffering and on to promoting positive welfare states, a concept that has been coined animal “wellness”. A process called evidence-based zoo management has been implemented in many zoos as a way to promote and ensure wellness. This is the idea that husbandry and housing standards should be evaluated and tested for their efficacy using data rather than relying on traditional best practices. In this manuscript we discuss an informal …
Behavioral Assessment Of Social Structure And Guest Provisioning Program Participation Of Zoo-Housed Giraffes (Giraffa Camelopardalis) Under Varying Spatial Availability., Fatima Ramis
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Close encounters with animals are considered integral for visitors and are trademark components of traditional educational engagement in zoological parks. As capacity for up-close encounters continue to increase with a simultaneous development in the field of animal welfare science, behavioral assessments on the role of common close encounters is timely. Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) visitor feeding programs are established in approximately 57% of institutions accredited by Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Due to successful breeding and capacity building for zoological giraffe populations, this percentage will likely continue to increase. There is a great deal of variation in the environmental …
The Effects Of The Red Tide Producing Dinoflagellate, Karenia Brevis, And Associated Brevetoxins On Viability And Sublethal Stress Responses In Scleractinian Coral: A Potential Regional Stressor To Coral Reefs, David A. Reynolds
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Coral cover is in decline on a global scale, with increased mortality events being attributed to a number of global and regional stressors. While the impacts of global stressors (e.g. sea surface temperature rise, ocean acidification) are well documented, there is growing interest in identifying and understanding the impacts of regional stressors. The reason for this change in focus is that regional stressors can often work in combination, sometimes synergistically, with global stressors and that stressors on a regional scale tend to be more easily mitigated by management practices. One regional stressor that impacts a myriad of marine organisms in …
The Soundscape Of The St. Johns River And Its Potential Impacts On The Habitat Use Patterns Of Bottlenose Dolphins, Carissa Deeann King
The Soundscape Of The St. Johns River And Its Potential Impacts On The Habitat Use Patterns Of Bottlenose Dolphins, Carissa Deeann King
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The development of effective management plans for animal populations relies on an understanding of how the population is utilizing the habitat as well as the identification of any critical habitat areas. The St. Johns River (SJR), an urban estuary with a high level of anthropogenic disturbance, is home to a resident population of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). In chapter one, SJR dolphin habitat use patterns, the factors that influenced these patterns, and the critical habitat areas were identified. Significant associations were found in most pair-wise comparisons between season, behavioral state, group size, water depth, and location, indicating that …
Behavioral And Physiological Assessment Of Zoo-Housed Heterosexual Gorilla (Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla) Troops With Multiple Silverbacks, Kaylin S. Tennant
Behavioral And Physiological Assessment Of Zoo-Housed Heterosexual Gorilla (Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla) Troops With Multiple Silverbacks, Kaylin S. Tennant
UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Based on recognized life history traits and ecology, zoos strive to house their gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in mixed-sex groups with one mature male or silverback, multiple females, and their offspring. However, successful captive breeding programs and a nearly 50:50 birth sex ratio has created the need to house surplus males in solitary conditions or all-male groups. It is commonly believed that male western gorillas will not tolerate one another in the presence of females; however, multi-male, mixed-sex groups have been observed in the wild. For this reason, some zoos have begun experimenting with this scenario. At the …