Search Results (4)

Visitors are a prominent feature of the zoo environment and lives of zoo animals. The COVID-19 pandemic led to repeated and extended closure periods for zoos worldwide. This unique period in zoological history enabled the opportunity to investigate the consistency of behavioural responses of zoo animals to closures and subsequent reopenings. Bennett’s wallabies (Notamacropus rufogriseus), meerkats (Suricata suricatta), macaws (red and green: Ara chloropterus; blue and yellow: Ara ararauna; military: Ara militaris) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus) held at four zoological collections in the United Kingdom were studied during COVID-19 closures and subsequent reopening periods. Facilities were closed for three time periods during 2020 and 2021: March–June/July 2020; November–December 2020; January–April/May 2021. Behavioural data were captured during closures (maximum n = 3) and reopening periods (maximum n = 3) during five-min scans using instantaneous scan sampling with a one-minute inter-scan interval. General linear models (GLMs) and general linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to investigate the relationship between observed behaviours and open/closed periods. Changes were observed in behaviour between open and closure periods in all species, and in some instances changes were also observed over time, with animals responding differently to different closure and reopening periods. However, no overt positive or negative impacts of the closures or reopening periods were identified for these species. The study species may have different relationships with zoo visitors, but no clear differences were seen across the species studied. The unique opportunity to study animals over a long period of time during repeated closure periods enabled a greater understanding of the impact of zoo visitors on animals. As with other work in this sphere, these data support the adaptability of zoo animals to zoo visitors. This work contributes to the growing field of research undertaken during the COVID-19 periods and enhances our understanding of the impact that these zoological closures had on a wider body of species in a number of facilities. Full article

The red-necked wallaby is a medium-sized marsupial species, which have increasingly been kept as pets around the world. In the study, the arterial blood supply for the brain in this species was described. The study was conducted on 50 specimens with two preparation methods. The main artery supplying the brain was the internal carotid artery. The arterial circle of the brain was closed from the caudal side. The anatomy of the arteries of the described region was compared with other groups of mammals. This is the first description of this anatomical area that has been carried out in a marsupial species. Understanding the anatomy of the circulatory system in the wallaby can be valuable for further physiological and pathophysiological studies. Full article

All capture methods impose animal welfare impacts, but these impacts are rarely quantified or reported. We present data from two wildlife capture studies that trialled new methods for capturing Bennett’s wallabies (Notamacropus rufogriseus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in New Zealand. We used helicopter net-gunning for both species, and compared this method with ground-based netting for wallabies and helicopter darting for red deer, using, for the first time in New Zealand, the fast-acting opioid thiafentanil. Efficacy and animal welfare parameters quantified were duration of handling and recovery, and frequency of adverse events, including escape, injury, and mortality. Cost-effectiveness was quantified for each method. Capture mortalities occurred for all methods for both species. For red deer, chemical immobilisation led to fewer traumatic injuries and fewer mortalities, while for wallabies, net-gunning led to fewer mortalities. Net-gunning was an efficient capture method for deer in open habitat, but led to the escape of 54% of wallabies and one wallaby mortality (4%). Ground-based netting resulted in the mortality of 17% of wallabies at the time of capture, and the capture of non-target species. The cost per captured wallaby was 40% more expensive for net-gunning (NZ$1045) than for ground-based netting (NZ$745), but, once corrected for mortalities at the time of capture and suitability of individuals for GPS-collar deployment, this was reduced to 29% and 12% more expensive, respectively. Net-gunning for red deer resulted in the escape of 13% of animals and mortality of 10% of animals at the time of capture. Helicopter-based darting for red deer using thiafentanil (c. 0.03–0.06 mg/kg) had high capture efficacy (zero escapes), rapid induction times (mean of 3 min), and a low mortality rate at 14 days post-capture (3%), but it was more expensive per deer captured and collared than aerial netting (NZ$2677 and NZ$2234, respectively). We recommend reporting of adverse event data for all wildlife capture techniques to permit continual refinement of field methods. Full article

When wildlife and motor vehicles collide, the result for the animals is often death (roadkill). A commercial roadkill mitigation device that forms a so-called virtual fence (VF), is said to reduce roadkill by up to 90%. A field trial to test its effectiveness was undertaken along a 4.5-km segment of a Tasmanian highway subdivided into 6 equal sections. A total of 126 days of monitoring of roadkill by species was conducted, with alternate sections being switched on or off, according to a variation of Crossover and Multiple Before-After-Control-Impact experimental designs that divided monitoring into five periods. From the six sections over the five periods, the 30 aggregated values of daily counts of roadkill for each species were modelled. Bennett’s wallabies (BW) (Notamacropus rufogriseus), Tasmanian pademelons (TP) (Thylogale billardierii) and common brush-tail possums (BP) (Trichosurus vulpecula) accounted for most of the total roadkill of 174 animals. Although initially there appeared to be an effect, linear model fits to standardised roadkill rates were not statistically significant for each of BW, TP, and BP using each of the Crossover, Multiple Before-After-Control-Impact, and simple On versus Off comparisons. Adjustment for spatial and temporal trends using a Generalised Additive Model with Poisson error also failed to detect a significant VF effect. A simulation study used to estimate the power to detect a statistically significant reduction in roadkill rate gave, for median estimates of reduction of 21%, 48%, and 57%, estimates of power of 0.24, 0.78, and 0.91, respectively. Therefore, this study failed to confirm previously reported estimates of reduction in roadkill rates claimed for this VF of 50%–90%, despite having adequate power to do so. However, point estimates obtained for these three species of reductions ranging from 13% to 32% leave open the question of there being a real but modest effect that was below statistical detection limits. Full article