Search Results (692)

Monitoring both captive animals and wild populations is necessary to ensure adequate animal welfare and wildlife conservation. Existing monitoring tools, e.g., camera traps, enable surveillance, yet analysis can prove time-consuming and labor-intensive if handled manually. The automated nature of machine learning (ML) reduces observer bias and manual workload and improves assessment capacity of behavioral monitoring tools that are often used by staff at zoological institutions. This study investigated the activity and space use of three captive jaguars (Panthera onca) through automated individual recognition, activity tracking, and heatmap visualization using an ML model trained on video footage. In total, 123.8 h of video footage was recorded of the jaguar enclosure in Randers Regnskov, Tropical Zoo. The ML model analyzed all videos containing jaguars from one day. The model achieved satisfactory performance based on its evaluation metrics (mean average precision, recall, precision, and F1-score). The ML model showed repeated movement tracks within specific enclosure areas. The jaguars exhibited significantly more inactive than active behavior and did not seem to exhibit natural bimodal nocturnal or crepuscular hunter activity patterns. It should be stated that, due to the small sample size of only three jaguars and 24 analyzed hours, this study is a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the potential of ML methods as valuable tools for individual recognition, activity tracking, and monitoring of space use to aid in future animal welfare monitoring. Full article

Against the backdrop of the digital economy, digital transformation has increasingly evolved from a firm-level upgrading process into a collaborative decision-making issue among supply chain members. From the perspective of intelligent supply chain management, this study develops a two-echelon game model of a vertical manufacturer–retailer supply chain to examine digital collaborative decision-making under heterogeneous power structures. By comparing a centralized cooperative benchmark with decentralized non-cooperative scenarios, the study investigates how power structures affect firms’ digital transformation efforts, pricing decisions, and system-level outcomes, while also considering the role of knowledge spillovers. The results show that, under the same power structure, cooperation leads to higher digital transformation effort levels and greater total supply chain profit than non-cooperation. Knowledge spillovers further strengthen firms’ incentives to invest in digital transformation and improve market demand, consumer surplus, and social welfare. Compared with asymmetric power structures, a balanced power structure generates lower retail prices, higher market demand, and better overall supply chain performance. Numerical simulations further show that higher digital transformation costs weaken collaborative gains, whereas greater market sensitivity to digitalization strengthens them. Overall, this study suggests that digital collaboration contributes to supply chain sustainability by improving coordination efficiency, enhancing adaptive operations, and promoting system-level value realization under heterogeneous governance structures. Full article

White Striping (WS) is a macroscopic defect of the pectoralis major muscle, characterized by distinct white striations that impair meat acceptability and commercial value. It is a phenotype with polygenic inheritance, controlled by several QTLs and genes associated with muscle repair and metabolism. Beyond genetic factors, phenotypic manifestation is strongly modulated by the environment. This review integrates research on genetic predispositions and modulating factors to provide a holistic overview of WS in broilers. The defect predominantly affects heavier birds with high breast yield and elevated ultimate breast pH. LRSAM1 gene, on chromosome GGA17, is identified as a putative candidate gene as its expression co-localizes with the phenotypic QTL. Chromosome GGA5 has recently been identified as the primary genomic region of interest hosting a cluster of specific markers. Research on dietary strategies has extensively explored the manipulation of feed formulations, especially of amino acids. While results for some nutrients like methionine remain conflicting, restricting lysine during the growth phase could be an effective dietary intervention for reducing WS severity. Management offers the most practical short-term solutions, whereas selective breeding enables meaningful and permanent progress across generations, given the moderate heritability of many quality-related traits. Effective mitigation requires an integrated approach combining welfare, environmental control, and precision feeding throughout the production cycle, while acknowledging trade-offs with productivity. To meet evolving consumer expectations, the industry must embrace practices that are simultaneously scientifically rigorous, ethically responsible, and environmentally sustainable. Full article

Kenya has a long history of both legal and illegal wildlife trade, functioning as a source, consumer, and transit hub within global wildlife markets. Yet, despite its increasing prominence, the scale and composition of Kenya’s captive-bred and ranched wildlife trade sectors remain poorly characterized, particularly following the enactment of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act (WCMA) in 2013. This study addresses this gap by analyzing Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) annual report data from 2013 to 2023 to: (1) identify trends in the volume and taxonomic composition of CITES-listed species exported as captive-bred or ranched from Kenya; (2) quantify the number of specimens and individuals traded; (3) assess their conservation status and legal classification; and (4) identify key export destinations. Between 2013 and 2023, Kenya reported 886 CITES export records involving captive-bred and ranched specimens from 28 vertebrate taxa across nine orders. Reptiles dominated exports (81% of records), followed by birds (15%) and mammals (4%). Live animals accounted for 80% of records (with reptiles comprising 96.1% of all live animal export records), totaling more than 870,000 individuals traded over the study period. The annual number of export records more than doubled across the decade, while exports of individual live reptiles increased more than tenfold, from 8551 individuals in 2013 to 86,330 in 2023. Most exports were commercial (93%) with the United States, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea identified as major importers. 77% of exported species have unknown or declining wild population trends, and seven species are internationally threatened, including the Critically Endangered pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri). We highlight the animal welfare, conservation, and biosecurity implications of this rapidly expanding trade, as well as consistent discrepancies between exporter- and importer-reported quantities that indicate substantial monitoring and regulatory challenges. The findings provide timely evidence to inform national wildlife management and protection measures, and ongoing policy discussions including those surrounding the forthcoming Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill (2025) and the role of captive breeding in Kenya’s wildlife trade. Full article

Understanding how individuals decide to adopt shelter dogs remains a significant challenge within animal welfare research, as existing studies identify correlates of adoption outcomes without explaining the underlying decision process. This hypothesis introduces a conceptual framework that synthesizes empirical findings from dog adoption studies with interdisciplinary theories to explain how adoption decisions emerge. Using a signal-to-noise perspective, the framework conceptualizes early bond formation between a potential adopter and a dog as a valuation signal that competes with uncertainty arising throughout the process. The functional model describes the adoption process as a lifecycle involving search, visitation, interaction, and decision phases, during which potential adopters seek information, evaluate available dogs, and form perceptions of compatibility. Interdisciplinary decision models, including Prospect Theory and the Diffusion Decision Model, are integrated to explain how information is framed, evaluated, and accumulated until a decision is reached. Empirical findings from human–dog interaction research are used to support the hypothesis that potential adopters evaluate companionship potential based on early bond formation associated with human–dog interactions. The framework offers a broad perspective on how adoption decisions may occur and establishes a theoretical foundation to guide future hypothesis development, measurement, and experimental research in companion animal adoption. Full article

As the integrated energy market evolves toward a multi-stakeholder coexistence model, balancing economic efficiency, user well-being, and system-level sustainability among interacting stakeholders has become a key challenge, particularly in the rapidly developing regional integrated energy markets in China. Thus, to satisfy user comfort and energy substitution requirements while achieving cost-effective electricity and heating supply, this study proposes a Stackelberg game-based market trading framework involving an integrated energy producer (IEP), an integrated energy operator (IEO), and a load aggregator (LA). First, the integrated energy market framework and transaction modes are established, and the profit models of IEP and IEO are formulated. Considering users’ energy substitution behavior, user comfort is quantified to explicitly reflect user welfare in market decision making, and a consumer surplus model is developed for LA participating in market transactions. Second, a Stackelberg game framework is constructed to coordinate the strategies of all participants by incorporating source–load energy flows, and the equilibrium solution is proven to be unique and solvable using quadratic programming. Finally, a case study based on historical data from Hebei Province, China, is conducted to validate the proposed strategy. The results demonstrate that the proposed method effectively coordinates the interests of all stakeholders, enhances demand response capability without reducing user comfort, and improves economic benefits for both supply and demand sides in regional integrated energy markets. Full article

The rapid expansion of edible insect production has focused primarily on rearing, processing efficiency, safety, and nutritional composition, while the slaughter of insects has received comparatively little scientific and ethical scrutiny. This narrative review examines insect slaughter as a critical control point linking bioethics, physiology, and ingredient quality. The review synthesizes evidence from neurobiology, food science, and processing studies to evaluate how commonly used slaughter methods interact with biological aspects of insects. Existing literature shows that slaughter techniques influence protein stability and hydrolysis, lipid oxidation, antioxidant retention, techno-functional properties such as emulsification and gelation, as well as sensory attributes and consumer acceptance. Available evidence suggests that methods designed to rapidly suppress metabolic activity may be associated with improved preservation of certain nutritional and functional parameters, although findings remain species- and context-dependent. The review further highlights major knowledge gaps, including the lack of species- and life-stage-specific welfare indicators and standardized assessment protocols. Overall, the findings support the need to reconceptualize insect slaughter as a strategic upstream decision rather than a neutral processing step. Integrating ethical considerations with nutritional, functional, and regulatory perspectives is essential for establishing science-based standards and ensuring the responsible development of edible insect-based food and feed systems. Full article

The increasing global demand for plant-based meat alternatives, driven by concerns for environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and health, has led to a growing need for reliable food authentication methods. Animal-based and plant-based meat products are visually similar, which poses a challenge for consumers to distinguish them. We developed an electronic nose (e-nose) system with an array of MQ gas sensors (MQ-2, MQ-3, MQ-7, MQ-135, MQ-136, MQ-138), an Arduino MEGA microcontroller, and an LCD for displaying results. A fuzzy logic algorithm was implemented to process sensor data and enable decision-making through membership functions and IF-THEN rule evaluation to classify meat products as either animal meat or plant-based meat. The system performance was validated with 20 independent test samples. Determination accuracy for both categories, as well as the overall accuracy, was assessed using a confusion matrix. The findings demonstrate that the e-nose system can reliably distinguish between animal-based and plant-based meat products. Full article

Animal welfare in farmed animals is increasingly being identified as an integral part of ethical meat production; yet in most developing nations, including Ghana, little attention is being paid to this area of interest. The demand for chicken meat and egg products in Ghana has also increased because of rapid urbanisation and development; hence, public perception of poultry welfare is paramount in policy formulation and development in Ghana. This study investigates public perception of poultry welfare in Ghana, particularly laying hen farming. The study used a cross-sectional study and surveyed 1275 respondents aged 17 and older in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale by collecting data in-person, and the questionnaire was administered using tablets or mobile devices. The study found that 69.1% of respondents poorly perceived farmed animal welfare, while 30.9% positively perceived farmed animal welfare in Ghana. There was a significant difference in perception levels among respondents in Accra and Kumasi, and those in Tamale, where respondents in Tamale indicated a slightly positive perception compared to those in Accra and Kumasi. Furthermore, 53.7% of respondents supported state intervention in farmed animal welfare, while 52.0% showed reluctance to pay a premium price for cage-free and free-range egg production in Ghana. Full article

This paper analyzes a monopolistic market with a continuum of consumers in the linear case. Consumers are vertically differentiated by a one-dimensional preference for quality, and the monopolist is allowed to offer a menu of quality-price pairs. The analysis shows that, in the linear case, the monopolist’s optimal offer endogenously collapses to a single quality-price pair, where the quality equals the highest feasible level. In addition, welfare maximization is achieved if and only if the market is fully served in equilibrium. Full article

Consumer food waste is a major global challenge to sustainable development, generating massive carbon and water footprints, exacerbating food insecurity, and undermining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. While extensive research has documented individual and contextual drivers of consumer food waste, critical gaps remain in understanding how core marketing tools shape wasteful behavior, particularly the unintended post-purchase consequences of ubiquitous price promotions. Addressing this gap, we unpack the psychological mechanism underlying the classic social dilemma of promotions: short-term individual economic savings from discounts conflict with long-term collective ecological welfare. Across four rigorous studies, including a real-world field experiment in a university canteen, we establish a causal effect of price promotions on increased consumer food waste behavior. We further demonstrate that this effect is mediated by enhanced perceived resources: price promotions generate subjective feelings of windfall gains and resource abundance, which in turn increase consumers’ willingness to discard edible food. We identify two practical actionable boundary conditions that attenuate this pro-waste effect: the impact of price promotions on food waste is eliminated when consumers focus on money spent (rather than money saved) from the transaction, and when they perceive their spending as exceeding their psychological budget. Our findings advance the literature on price promotions and sustainable consumption by documenting a previously unrecognized hidden cost of promotional marketing, unpacking the micro-psychological foundations of the social dilemma in food waste decisions, and providing evidence-based, actionable implications for policymakers, food retailers, and food service operators to curb promotion-induced food waste. Full article

Sustainable expansion of global aquaculture relies on innovative alternative diets that reduce dependence on marine-derived ingredients. Poultry by-product meal (PBM) and insect meal have emerged as promising protein sources, yet their combined use under commercial farming conditions remains poorly explored. This study evaluated a plant-based finishing diet low in marine proteins and supplemented with 10% Hermetia illucens larvae meal (HIM) and 30% PBM (H10P30) and compared it with a conventional commercial diet (COM) in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) reared on a land-based farm for 65 days. Health and welfare indicators, product safety, fillet quality, fatty acid profile, oxidative status, and consumer acceptance were assessed. Fish fed the H10P30 diet showed a significantly higher body weight and specific growth rate and a lowered feed conversion ratio than COM-fed fish. No external or internal lesions or liver histopathological alterations related to the H10P30 diet were observed. While the diet influenced the fatty acid profile of raw fillets, differences disappeared after cooking, except for a higher C22:6n-3 content in cooked H10P30 fillets. Sensory analysis penalised COM fillets due to the perceived hard texture and low juiciness. In summary, incorporating both PBM and HIM into a plant-based finishing diet serves as a viable feeding strategy for gilthead sea bream, contributing to improved feed sustainability. Full article

Animal welfare has become an increasingly prominent attribute in global food markets, embedded within sustainability narratives, quality claims, and ethical branding strategies. However, the proliferation of animal welfare claims has not always been matched by equivalent improvements in on-farm welfare outcomes. This paper conceptualises animal welfare washing (AWW) as a systemic phenomenon in animal-based supply chains, whereby welfare narratives, standards, and certifications create the appearance of ethical production without delivering measurable improvements in animal welfare. Drawing on the interdisciplinary literature from animal welfare science, sustainability studies, trade governance, and food policy, this conceptual essay examines how AWW emerges from the interaction of industrial farming systems, fragmented public and private regulations, trade incentives, and information asymmetries. The analysis shows that AWW undermines ethical commitments to animals, regulatory credibility, and food quality governance. Welfare claims frequently operate as credence-based quality signals, despite weak links to verifiable welfare outcomes. Together, these conditions enable symbolic compliance and regulatory arbitrage across global value chains. As a result, genuinely higher-welfare producers face distorted competition, while consumers encounter diminishing trust in sustainability labels. It is argued that addressing AWW requires a shift toward outcome-based measurable welfare standards, stronger enforcement, improved integration with food quality regulation, and trade-compatible governance frameworks that reward performance rather than symbolic claims. By situating AWW within broader sustainability and trade dynamics, this paper advances debates on ethical food governance. Full article

This paper examines how e-commerce retailers should structure return freight insurance (RFI) partnerships—exclusive single-insurer or competitive multi-insurer—to maximize consumer surplus. Using a game-theoretic model with heterogeneous consumers and vertically differentiated insurance products, we find that monopolistic RFI provision can paradoxically enhance consumer welfare over competition when markets exhibit high heterogeneity, limited loss aversion, and low compensation levels. The monopoly’s advantage stems from unified risk pooling, preventing adverse selection, cross-subsidization maintaining universal coverage, and quality preservation avoiding competitive price degradation. Optimal premiums show non-monotonic relationships with market parameters, creating distinct pricing regimes. Our results suggest retailers should match market structure to consumer characteristics: exclusive arrangements for heterogeneous, price-sensitive markets, while competitive provision for homogeneous, loss-averse segments. These insights advance our understanding of platform economics and inform tailored market design for internet insurance. Full article

Sustainability and healthy eating have emerged as key areas of interest and concern among younger generations in recent decades. Another prominent feature of this cohort is their increasing engagement with sport, both as practicing sport and as sport fans. Participation in sporting activities and enthusiasm for sports frequently align with the principles of sustainable and healthy living. Despite extensive theoretical interest and a growing body of research on young consumers’ concern for environmental sustainability and personal balanced nutrition, the interrelations among these domains remain underexplored. The connection with sport engagement has received even less scholarly attention. This study investigates how sustainable and healthy eating behaviors (SHEB), together with sport engagement, influence advocacy for sustainable and healthy food practices among young Italian consumers. Drawing on Social Practice Theory, Behavioral Spillover Theory and Diffusion of Innovation Theory, we develop and test a structural equation model (SEM) using data from 220 respondents. We tested the sustainable and healthy eating (SHE) scale and found that, among Italian Gen Z consumers, only three practices—meat reduction, concern for animal welfare, and seasonal food consumption—significantly represent the higher-order construct. Although the original scale includes eight dimensions, our results indicate that, in this cohort, SHE behaviors are effectively captured by this more focused set of practices. Moreover, both higher-order constructs examined in the model (SHEB and SPORT) significantly contribute to explaining advocacy for sustainable and healthy eating. Moreover, there are no significant differences among male and females. These findings contribute to consumer research on the interplay between sustainable and healthy lifestyle behaviors by identifying sport engagement as a novel and meaningful driver of consumer advocacy toward sustainable and healthy eating. Full article