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The Plymouth Student Scientist

Document Type

Project Article

Abstract

This study investigated how increased environmental predictability in captivity can impact upon animal behaviour. ‘Busyness’ was piloted as a method of measuring activity in relation to environmental factors and observations were conducted on the behaviour of 2 zoo-housed Sumatran tigers, Panthera tigris sumatrae. Graphical analysis revealed the tigers to show increased Busyness leading up to the time they were taken off-show, possibly indicating anticipation of this event. Both animals displayed stereotyped pacing within specific enclosure sections. The female tiger showed increased pacing leading up to the time she was taken off-show, whereas the male showed the opposite. Suggestions were made to explain differences in behaviour in relation to environmental events and personal history and proposals for future research using Busyness.

Publication Date

2010-07-01

Publication Title

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Volume

3

Issue

1

First Page

107

Last Page

141

ISSN

1754-2383

Deposit Date

May 2019

Embargo Period

2024-07-03

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/13900

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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