Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe and Effective at Reducing Undesirable Behaviors in California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals during Rehabilitation
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Animal Management
2.2. Enrichment Devices
2.3. Behavioral Sampling
2.4. EED Introduction and Removal
2.5. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Baseline Behavior and Behavior in the Presence of EEDs
3.2. Species and Individual Preferences of Interacting with the EEDs
3.3. Effects of Age on Use of EEDs
3.4. Effects of EEDs on Stereotypical Behavior
3.5. Effects of EEDs on Looking at People/Care Staff Areas
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Species | Name | Sex | Estimated Age and at Study | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
California Sea Lion | Amber | Male | Yearling: approx. 1–1.5 years and older than 1.5 years | Unilateral blindness Performing stereotypic behaviors |
Julius | Male | Pup: approx. 4 to 7 months and 7–12 months | Performing stereotypic behaviors | |
Mookie | Female | Pup: approx. 4 to 7 months and 7–12 months | ||
Pigeon | Female | Yearling: approx. 1–1.5 years and older than 1.5 years | Performing stereotypic behaviors | |
Pompey | Female | Pup: approx. 4 to 7 months and 7–12 months | ||
Skipperdee | Female | Pup: approx. 4 to 7 months and 7–12 months | ||
Unity | Male | Yearling: approx. 1–1.5 years and older than 1.5 years | ||
Northern Elephant Seal | Aidan | Female | Weaners: 1.5–3 months and 3–6 months | |
Barracuda | Female | |||
Begley | Female | |||
Bubbles | Male | |||
Chaffee | Female | |||
Flower | Female | |||
Lassie | Female | |||
Shipwreck | Male |
Behavior | Definition |
---|---|
Swimming (S) | Animal is moving in the water, not interacting with anything or any other animal. |
Interacting with Enrichment Device (IE) | Animal is interacting, exploring or playing with an enrichment device in some way (e.g., touching, biting, smelling), whether in the pool or on land. |
Social Interaction (SI) | Animal is interacting in some way with another animal in the pool or on land. |
Stereotypic Behavior (ST) | Animal is repeating a behavior with no apparent function (e.g., pattern swimming, suckling on self, sliding in and out of the water) |
Sleeping (SL) | Animal has eyes closed, breathing slowed and is inactive. |
Inactive (I) | Animal is not moving, but not sleeping; can see that the animal is awake, just not active. |
Looking at People/Care Staff Area (L) | Animal is angling head and gaze towards nearby humans or towards care staff areas. |
Other (O) | Behavior not listed on the ethogram. |
California Sea Lions (Number of sessions) | |||||||||
Enrichment | Amber | Julius | Mookie | Pigeon | Pompey | Skipperdee | Unity | Total number of sessions | |
Artificial Kelp | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 17 | |
Horse KONG™ | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 20 | |
Wubba KONG™ | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 20 | |
None | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 57 | |
Enrichment | Northern Elephant Seals (Number of sessions) | ||||||||
Aidan | Barracuda | Begley | Bubbles | Chaffee | Flower | Lassie | Shipwreck | Total number of sessions | |
Artificial Kelp | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
Horse KONG™ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
Wubba KONG™ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
None | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 72 |
Behaviors | California Sea Lions | Northern Elephant Seals | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Artificial Kelp | Horse KONG™ | Wubba KONG™ | Artificial Kelp | Horse KONG™ | Wubba KONG™ | |
Swimming (S) | 27.65 | 31.72 | 33.17 | 11.25 | 17.20 | 9.10 |
Interacting with enrichment device (IE) | 20.39 | 13.36 | 7.50 | 16.94 | 13.73 | 21.74 |
Social interaction (SI) | 4.71 | 9.18 | 11.17 | 2.08 | 5.27 | 3.13 |
Stereotypic | 9.80 | 10.35 | 14.50 | 0.00 | 0.83 | 1.49 |
Sleeping (SL) | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 20.28 | 11.37 | 16.58 |
Looking at people/care staff area (L) | 9.61 | 1185 | 11.33 | 15.56 | 23.44 | 18.89 |
Inactive (I) | 6.86 | 6.18 | 0.83 | 19.72 | 11.93 | 14.67 |
Other (O) | 20.98 | 17.36 | 21.50 | 14.17 | 16.23 | 14.40 |
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Donald, K.; Benedetti, A.; Goulart, V.D.L.R.; Deming, A.; Nollens, H.; Stafford, G.; Brando, S. Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe and Effective at Reducing Undesirable Behaviors in California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals during Rehabilitation. Animals 2023, 13, 1222. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071222
Donald K, Benedetti A, Goulart VDLR, Deming A, Nollens H, Stafford G, Brando S. Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe and Effective at Reducing Undesirable Behaviors in California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals during Rehabilitation. Animals. 2023; 13(7):1222. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071222
Chicago/Turabian StyleDonald, Kirsten, Amanda Benedetti, Vinícius Donisete Lima Rodrigues Goulart, Alissa Deming, Hendrik Nollens, Grey Stafford, and Sabrina Brando. 2023. "Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe and Effective at Reducing Undesirable Behaviors in California Sea Lions and Northern Elephant Seals during Rehabilitation" Animals 13, no. 7: 1222. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13071222