Examining the Impact of Naturalistic and Unnaturalistic Environmental Enrichment on Visitor Perception of Naturalness,Animal Welfare,and Conservation

Recent research shows that using different types of enrichment has little to no impact on how zoo visitors perceive the animals or the enclosure in general. The primary objective of the current research was to examine if viewing naturalistic-looking environmental enrichment (NEE) and unnaturalistic-looking environmental enrichment (UEE) has an effect on visitor perceptions of exhibit naturalness, animal welfare, and conservation, while controlling for two factors that can influence visitor perspective: animal visibility and behavior. Study 1 examined the color of enrichment: the NEE was colored to resemble a rock and the UEE was fluorescent pink. Four conditions were recorded: Naturalistic/No Animal, Naturalistic/Animal, Unnaturalistic/No Animal, and Unnaturalistic/Animal. One video was shown to 306 randomly selected visitors who then took a survey including questions on animal welfare, exhibit naturalness, and supporting conservation organizations. Naturalistic/No Animal was perceived by visitors to be the most natural environment and the best of the exhibits for an animal to live in. Study 2 examined different types of NEE and UEE. Eight photos (four with an animal and four without) showing one out of four enrichment items (naturalistic rock, wood wool bedding, traffic cone, cardboard box) were shown to 618 randomly selected visitors who then took a survey similar to study 1. Visitors rated the photos with the NEE consistently higher for questions regarding the naturalness of the exhibit, good animal welfare, and the livability of the environment. Visitors were also asked to rank the four enrichment items from best to worst, and the NEEs were ranked significantly higher than the UEEs. While there are still many unanswered questions regarding visitor perceptions of environmental enrichment in zoos, we hope that focusing on one variant such as color and examining different types of NEE and UEE can help guide future studies on this subject.     

Rank Tests for correlated Random Variables

In this paper we consider the asymptotic distribution of linear rank-statistics allowing certain dependencies between the random variables. General theorems will be given, from which the results contained in SEN (1967a, 1967b, 1968), MEHRA /SEN (1969) and PURI /SEN (1971) can be derived. Applying these theorems we can derive ranktests for the two-sample problem for tied observations, for the two-factor mixed model with random interaction and for a hierarchical design. The distribution of the proposed teststatistics for small sample sizes is considered by Monte-Carlo studies.     

Physiological and social influences on mounting behavior of troop-living female monkeys (Macaca fuscata)

Female mounting behavior was studied in a troop of Japanese macaques during one breeding season. Of 79 sexually active females, mounting behavior during consortships was shown by 50 females; 13 only with males, 20 with both males and females, and 17 only with females. Several factors associated with reproductive state influenced the expression of mounting activity. Recency of parturition influenced the mounting by females regardless of the type of partner. Females that had not given birth the previous spring (four to six months prior to the period of observation) were more likely both to mount partners and to produce an infant the following spring. These findings suggest the existence of a common factor, perhaps associated with lactation, inhibitory both to expression of mounting and to female fertility. Additionally, females that mounted were more likely to do so in consortships that followed than in those that preceded conception. This last finding suggests that, in this social context, the endocrine conditions of early pregnancy facilitated mounting to a greater extent than those associated with the cyclic ovary. Separate statistical analyses examined possible influences of age, dominance rank, and kinship on the likelihoods of mounting and being mounted. None of these factors influenced female mounting. Results suggest that the expression of mounting by females was more influenced by reproductive state than by social characteristics of the partner.     

Tests of significance for point-biserial rank correlation coefficients in the presence of ties

This paper deals with exact and asymptotic tests of significance of the point-biserial rank correlations of the KENDALL and SPEARMAN tests when ties are present and mid-ranks are assigned to tied values.     

Male endocrine responses to females: Effects of social cues in cynomolgus macaques

This study tested the hypothesis that the hormonal responses of male macaques to sexually receptive females are mediated by specific socioenvironmental cues. Twelve, socially living male Macaca fascicularis were exposed to two-ovariectomized, estrogen-primed females under pair test, peer group, and peer group without dominant male conditions. Preexposure to postexposure changes in serum cortisol levels and testosterone levels were examined in relation to male dominance rank, age, and conditions of access to stimulus females. The males displayed significantly lower cortisol increases and greater testosterone increases with females under peer group than pair test conditions. Dominant males displayed greater testosterone increases than subordinate males under peer group conditions. The testosterone levels of subordinate males were greatly enhanced by removing the dominant male from each group. Adult males displayed greater cortisol responsivity to changes in conditions of access to females than did subadult males. Subadult males displayed greater testosterone responsivity to removal of the dominant male from the group than did adult males. It is concluded that specific social cues can greatly influence the endocrine responses of males to receptive females, and further, that there may be optimal socioenvironmental parameters for eliciting testosterone increases in male primates.     

Developmental variables and dominance rank in adolescent male mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx).

Previous research on semifree-ranging mandrills has shown that the degree of secondary sexual development differs among adult males. While some males are social, brightly colored, and have large testes and high levels of plasma testosterone, other males are peripheral or solitary, and lack fully developed secondary sexual features. In order to determine how these differences among males arise, and to investigate the influence of social factors, we examined the adolescent development of 13 semifree-ranging male mandrills of known age. Testicular volume began to increase markedly at 5.5 yr, and males began to develop secondary sexual adornments at the age of 6 yr. Males attained adult size and secondary sexual development at an average age of 9 yr. As males developed, they peripheralized, decreasing from 100% group-associated at 5 yr to 20% at 8 yr. At 9 yr some males reentered the social group and attained alpha rank, while others remained peripheral or solitary. Within this average development, there was marked variation among males in the timing of development. Adolescent males that were dominant for their age had higher testosterone levels, larger testes, and more advanced secondary sexual development than subordinate males. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of differences that occur among adult males, male-male competition, and the evolution of secondary sexual adornments in this species.     

Pair Rank Set Sampling

Ranked set sampling (RSS) as suggested by McIntyre (1952) may be modified to introduced a new sampling method called pair rank set sampling (PRSS), which might be used in some area of application instead of the RSS to increase the efficiency of the estimators relative to the simple random sampling (SRS) method. Estimators of the population mean are considered. An example using real data is presented to illustrate computations.