Bobcat (Lynx rufus) Breeding in Captivity: The Importance of Environmental Enrichment

Environmental enrichment is an improvement in the biological functioning of nonhuman animals in captivity resulting from modifications to their environment; however, specifying appropriate and practical measures of enrichment is problematic. This study analyzes the behavior of 4 bobcats (Lynx rufus) in the Jerez Zoo before and after the application of a global program of environmental enrichment that included (a) changes in the size and complexity of their installations, (b) the introduction of new objects into compounds, (c) changes in diet, and (d) modifications in the grouping of animals. A factorial correspondence analysis showed a highly significant relationship among individual animals, behavior, and experimental design. Behaviors such as locomotion, repeated pacing, vigilance, and grooming more often occurred before enrichment, whereas exploratory and food behaviors were more often associated with the enrichment phase. After the implementation of the enrichment program, the bobcats bred successfully for the first time since their arrival in the zoo.     

Maximizing the effectiveness of environmental enrichment: Suggestions from the experimental analysis of behavior

Environmental enrichment programs provide benefits to both captive animals and the facilities that house them, but cost time and resources to design, implement, and maintain. As yet, there have been few theoretically based guidelines to assist animal care staff in establishing cost-efficient enrichment methods that both elicit the desired behavioral changes and maintain their success over time. We describe several well-studied principles from the field of experimental analysis of behavior, including intrinsic reinforcement, extrinsic reinforcement, habituation, extinction, and schedules of reinforcement that could be very useful for evaluating the short- and long-term effectiveness of enrichment. We use this theoretical framework to generate testable hypotheses and provide examples of enrichment studies relevant to our predictions. In particular, we suggest that enrichment devices that offer extrinsic reinforcement (food, social access, etc. as a result of performing behaviors) should produce greater and more prolonged changes in behavior than devices that rely on the behavior itself being reinforcing to the animal. For techniques that provide no extrinsic reinforcement, using stimuli that are novel, are more different from the environment, have been withheld or altered in some way, or are presented less frequently may help reduce habituation. For techniques that provide extrinsic reinforcement, making reinforcement more difficult to obtain and providing more or higher quality reinforcers may increase the long-term success of the enrichment program. In addition, enrichment may be more effective if animal care staff avoid continuously reinforcing behaviors after they are established, enriching immediately after feeding, and exposing animals to enrichment when reinforcement is no longer available. While the current enrichment literature supports the application of behavior analytic theory, empirical evaluation of many of our predictions is still needed.     

Behavioral effects of enrichment on singly-housed,yearling rhesus monkeys: An analysis including three enrichment conditions and a control group

Three cohorts of yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were maintained in single cages for one year as part of a derivation program to produce a breeding colony of specific pathogen-free (SPF) monkeys. During this year of social restriction, subjects were provided with three different types of environmental enrichment (physical, feeding, and sensory) to counteract the known effects of social restriction and to quantify the effects of these different conditions of enhancement on their behavior. Focal animal observations were conducted on enriched and control subjects for all cohorts. Enrichment conditions were presented in a different order to each cohort. Monkeys provided with enrichment spent significantly more time playing and less time self-grooming than did control monkeys in unenriched cages, suggesting that the overall enrichment program was of some benefit to the monkeys, because these changes in behavior were in species-typical directions. Among enriched subjects only, there were significant differences in the amount of time spent drinking, grooming, feeding, playing, exploring, and using enrichment across the three enrichment conditions. Both the physical and feeding enrichment conditions led to species-appropriate changes in behavior, therefore enhancing psychological well-being as some define it. Sensory enrichment was of little benefit. The first cohort was housed indoors, received less stimulation from the environment outside of the single cage, and used enrichment more than did the other two cohorts housed outdoors. This suggests that the external environment influences behavior in the single cage and that enrichment may be most effective for animals housed indoors. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Improving the Welfare of a Zoo-Housed Male Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus poensis) Aggressive Toward Visitors

Improving the welfare of nonhuman animals in captivity and maintaining behavioral competence for future conservation purposes is of the highest priority for zoos. The behavior of an aggressive male drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus poensis) was assessed in Barcelona Zoo. The 2-year study presented in this article examined the effects of introducing changes in the exhibit of the drill to improve his welfare by analyzing scan behaviors. First, a partial visual barrier was applied and proved to be insufficient to decrease the long-term stress indicators assessed. Next, a feeding enrichment program was implemented. The results supported the hypothesis that feeding and explorative activities would increase, whereas apathetic and stereotypic behaviors would decrease. However, visitor-directed aggression did not vary, indicating that more profound structural modifications were needed to reduce the negative impact of the agonistic interactions between the drill and the public. The study emphasized the usefulness of environmental enrichment evaluations in assessing captive animal welfare.     

Understanding Fluctuations in Bobcat Harvest at the Northern Limit of Their Range

ABSTRACT In Quebec, Canada, harvest of bobcats (Lynx rufus) started to decline in 1985 and by 1991, harvest seasons were closed due to concerns of a perceived population decline. Since the closing of harvest season in 1991, the average temperature has increased, snow quantity has decreased, and important changes in agriculture and forest management have occurred. In light of changing conditions, the situation of Quebec bobcats needed reassessment. Thus, we analyzed harvest data to clarify the current status of bobcat populations in Quebec. From 1980 to 1991, bobcat harvest in Quebec was strongly correlated with bobcat harvest in Maine (USA), Nova Scotia (Canada), Ontario (Canada), and Vermont (USA). Extrapolations of harvest in Quebec relative to harvest in Maine, Ontario, Vermont, and Nova Scotia suggested an increase in number of bobcats after 1991. Mass of male and female bobcats before 1991 was less than mass of animals captured after 1991. Percentage of juveniles in the reported harvest before 1991 was higher than after 1991. However, percentage of males and litter sizes in the harvest did not differ before and after 1991. The geographic distribution of bobcats captured has gradually expanded after the closure of the harvest season. Our findings suggest that bobcat populations in Quebec have recovered from the 1985–1991 decline, and that the harvest season for this species could resume. This study also illustrates how managers can rely on data from neighboring jurisdiction to manage species when local harvest data is unavailable.     

Interspecific interactions between wild felids vary across scales and levels of urbanization

Ongoing global landscape change resulting from urbanization is increasingly linked to changes in species distributions and community interactions. However, relatively little is known about how urbanization influences competitive interactions among mammalian carnivores, particularly related to wild felids. We evaluated interspecific interactions between medium‐ and large‐sized carnivores across a gradient of urbanization and multiple scales. Specifically, we investigated spatial and temporal interactions of bobcats and pumas by evaluating circadian activity patterns, broad‐scale seasonal interactions, and fine‐scale daily interactions in wildland–urban interface (WUI), exurban residential development, and wildland habitats. Across levels of urbanization, interspecific interactions were evaluated using two‐species and single‐species occupancy models with data from motion‐activated cameras. As predicted, urbanization increased the opportunity for interspecific interactions between wild felids. Although pumas did not exclude bobcats from areas at broad spatial or temporal scales, bobcats responded behaviorally to the presence of pumas at finer scales, but patterns varied across levels of urbanization. In wildland habitat, bobcats avoided using areas for short temporal periods after a puma visited an area. In contrast, bobcats did not appear to avoid areas that pumas recently visited in landscapes influenced by urbanization (exurban development and WUI habitat). In addition, overlap in circadian activity patterns between bobcats and pumas increased in exurban development compared to wildland habitat. Across study areas, bobcats used sites less frequently as the number of puma photographs increased at a site. Overall, bobcats appear to shape their behavior at fine spatial and temporal scales to reduce encounters with pumas, but residential development can potentially alter these strategies and increase interaction opportunities. We explore three hypotheses to explain our results of how urbanization affected interspecific interactions that consider activity patterns, landscape configuration, and animal scent marking. Altered competitive interactions between animals in urbanized landscapes could potentially increase aggressive encounters and the frequency of disease transmission.     

狒狒圈舍废弃栖杠的嗅觉丰容对圈养食肉动物行为的影响

单调的饲养环境是导致圈养食肉动物表现刻板行为的主要原因之一。为减少圈养动物刻板行为的发生,探索便于操作、经济且有效的丰容方式是动物饲养管理者面临的一个挑战。本研究以狒狒圈舍废弃栖杠作为嗅觉丰容材料,对北京动物园小型(9种)、中型(4种)和大型(7种)食肉动物进行嗅觉丰容实验。在非投喂时段,采用扫描动物取样和瞬时记录法,分别对28只动物在丰容前后的5种行为进行观察和比较分析。结果显示,小型和中型食肉动物在丰容后对旧设施的使用频次显著下降(小型：P=0.026;中型：P=0.038),而大型食肉动物无显著变化(P> 0.05)。仅小型食肉动物的刻板性走动、休息和观望行为频次显著下降(走动：P=0.023;休息：P=0.023;观望：P=0.017),其他类群的各类行为均无显著变化(P> 0.05)。同时,丰容后小型食肉动物的行为多样性指数显著降低(P=0.008),主要表现为动物花费较多的时间探究新的丰容设施;中型和大型食肉动物的行为多样性指数变化不显著。结果表明,使用带有狒狒身体气味的栖杠进行嗅觉丰容,仅对小型食肉动物有效,对中型和大型食肉动物无效。研究认为,以其他动物圈舍的...     

Does Enrichment Improve Well Being in Animals under Human Care? A Case Study of Two Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina)

Harbor seals in the wild live in a stimulating environment; therefore, nonhuman-animal caretakers have increasingly been using environmental enrichment to improve the well being of seals under human care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an object-based environmental enrichment program during a four-month period on stimulating exploration and play and improving conspecific social interactions and human–animal relationships (HAR). Zoo staff conducted the environmental enrichment program as part of the animal care program. Seals were given objects haphazardly and were observed for 20 minutes, and seals’ responsiveness during training sessions before and after enrichment was assessed. Seals showed interest in objects throughout the study and interacted more times per session with objects during the later months. Seals showed preferences for objects that were suspended in the water column (e.g., rope). Seals did not show more affiliative behavior but did show some aggressive behavior during enrichment sessions in comparison with free-swimming sessions. One seal showed better responsiveness to trainers in training sessions that followed an enrichment session than in other trainings sessions. Overall, the enrichment program was successful in increasing intrinsically motivated behaviors and showed that object-based enrichment has the potential to improve HAR between seals and their trainers.     

Environmental enrichment for laboratory rodents and rabbits: requirements of rodents, rabbits, and research

Environmental conditions such as housing and husbandry have a major impact on the laboratory animal throughout its life and will thereby influence the outcome of animal experiments. However, housing systems for laboratory animals have often been designed on the basis of economic and ergonomic aspects. One possible way to improve the living conditions of laboratory animals is to provide opportunities for the animals to perform a species-specific behavioral repertoire. Environmental enrichment should be regarded both as an essential component of the overall animal care program and equally important as nutrition and veterinary care. The key component of an enrichment program is the animal staff, whose members must be motivated and educated. It is critically important to evaluate environmental enrichment in terms of the benefit to the animal by assessing the use of and preference for a certain enrichment, the effect on behavior and the performance of species-typical behavior, and the effect on physiological parameters. At the same time, it is necessary to evaluate the impact on scientific outcome, how the enrichment influences the scientific study, and whether and how the statistical power is affected. The result will depend on the parameter measured, the type of enrichment used, and the animal strain. In this article, goals of enrichment are defined and discussed. Animal behaviors and needs are described, along with the translation of those needs into environmental enrichment programs. Specific types of environmental enrichment are outlined with examples from the literature, and an evaluation of environmental enrichment is provided.     

Enrichment techniques employed in phosphoproteomics

Rapid changes of protein phosphorylation play a crucial role in the regulation of many cellular processes. Being post-translationally modified, phosphoproteins are often present in quite low abundance and tend to co-exist with their unphosphorylated isoform within the cell. To make their identification more practicable, the use of enrichment protocols is often required. The enrichment strategies can be performed either at the level of phosphoproteins or at the level of phosphopeptides. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. Most enriching strategies are based on chemical modifications, affinity chromatography to capture peptides and proteins containing negatively charged phosphate groups onto a positively charged matrix, or immunoprecipitation by phospho-specific antibodies. In this article, the most up-to-date enrichment techniques are discussed, taking into account their optimization, and highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, these methods are compared to each other, revealing their complementary nature in providing comprehensive coverage of the phosphoproteome.     

Environmental enrichment for captive stumptail macaques (Macaca arctoides)

Background  The behavior of animals is modified by captivity. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a program designed to enhance the welfare of confined animals by providing them with a more stimulating background. This is carried out by the implementation of a series of activities that encourages them to present behaviors typical of their species, as well as keeps them active. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the influence of the EE in the behavioral variables in a colony of 24 stumptail macaques ( Macaca arctoides ). Our hypothesis is that the application of this program will reduce aggression, stereotypes and coprophilia behaviors and, at the same time, will increase exploration and solitary play.
Methods  The behavioral frequency previous to EE was compared with that during EE implementation.
Results  Our results showed that aggression, coprophilia stereotypic behaviors and social play were significantly reduced during EE, whereas exploration was significantly enhanced. The response of the individuals according to gender was similar for both sexes.
Conclusions  Environmental enrichment programs are indispensable for captive animals' wellbeing as they reduce aggression and stress while providing animals both physical and cognitive entertainment.     

The Relationship between Personality Dimensions and Resiliency to Environmental Stress in Orange-Winged Amazon Parrots (Amazona amazonica), as Indicated by the Development of Abnormal Behaviors

Parrots are popular companion animals, but are frequently relinquished because of behavioral problems, including abnormal repetitive behaviors like feather damaging behavior and stereotypy. In addition to contributing to pet relinquishment, these behaviors are important as potential indicators of diminished psychological well-being. While abnormal behaviors are common in captive animals, their presence and/or severity varies between animals of the same species that are experiencing the same environmental conditions. Personality differences could contribute to this observed individual variation, as they are known risk factors for stress sensitivity and affective disorders in humans. The goal of this study was to assess the relationship between personality and the development and severity of abnormal behaviors in captive-bred orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica). We monitored between-individual behavioral differences in enrichment-reared parrots of known personality types before, during, and after enrichment deprivation. We predicted that parrots with higher scores for neurotic-like personality traits would be more susceptible to enrichment deprivation and develop more abnormal behaviors. Our results partially supported this hypothesis, but also showed that distinct personality dimensions were related to different forms of abnormal behavior. While neuroticism-like traits were linked to feather damaging behavior, extraversion-like traits were negatively related to stereotypic behavior. More extraverted birds showed resiliency to environmental stress, developing fewer stereotypies during enrichment deprivation and showing lower levels of these behaviors following re-enrichment. Our data, together with the results of the few studies conducted on other species, suggest that, as in humans, certain personality types render individual animals more susceptible or resilient to environmental stress. Further, this susceptibility/resiliency can have a long-term effect on behavior, as evidenced by behavioral changes that persisted despite re-enrichment. Ours is the first study evaluating the relationship between personality dimensions, environment, and abnormal behaviors in an avian species.     

Influence of cinnamon and catnip on the stereotypical pacing of oncilla cats (Leopardus tigrinus) in captivity

Nonhuman animals in captivity can experience environmental privation that results in their exhibiting abnormal behaviors. Environmental enrichment techniques can help improve their welfare. This study investigated the behavior of 8 zoo-housed oncilla cats (Leopardus tigrinus) in response to 2 odors (catnip and cinnamon) introduced individually into the animals' enclosures for 3 consecutive days. Proportion of scans spent engaging in stereotypical pacing were compared before, during, and after treatments. The addition of cinnamon reduced the proportion of pacing during and after enrichment (Wilcoxon: Z = 3.16, p < .001; Z = 3.16, p < .001, respectively), indicating a prolonged effect of the enrichment on the animals' behavior. Catnip appears to have elicited no significant difference in the stereotypic pacing before, during, or after the enrichment (Friedman: X(2) = 2.69; p = .260). The results highlight the potential use of cinnamon as a method of environmental enrichment for small captive-housed cats.     

Effects of social and inanimate enrichment on the behavior of yearling rhesus monkeys

Certain types of inanimate environmental enrichment have been shown to positively affect the behavior of laboratory primates, as has housing them in appropriate social conditions. While social housing is generally advocated as an important environmental enhancement, few studies have attempted to measure the influence of social conditions on the effects of inanimate enrichment or to compare the relative merits of social and inanimate enhancements. In the present study, inanimate enrichment (predominately physical and feeding enhancements) resulted in increased species-typical behavior for socially restricted subjects. However, social enrichment (living in groups) appeared to be more beneficial for young rhesus monkeys, leading to increased species-typical activities and decreased abnormal activities. The behavior of one cohort of yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) housed in small peer groups was compared with the behavior of four yearling cohorts housed in single cages. Half the animals in each cohort received a three-phase enrichment program and the rest served as controls. Group-housed yearlings spent significantly more time feeding and exploring and significantly less time behaving abnormally, self-grooming, and drinking than did singly housed yearlings. Enriched subjects spent significantly more time playing by themselves, and significantly less time self-grooming and exploring than did controls. Among group-housed subjects only, there were no differences between enriched and control monkeys. Captive primates should be housed socially, whenever appropriate, as the first and most important step in an enrichment program, with the provision of inanimate enhancements being considerably less important. Limited resources for inanimate enrichment programs instead should be focused on those individuals who can not be housed socially. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Competition and coexistence in sympatric bobcats and pumas

Space use and diets of sympatric bobcats Lynx rufus and pumas Puma concolor were compared using sign surveys and scat analysis during 1997–2002 in south-eastern Arizona, USA. Bobcats appeared to use grassland, scrub, riparian and woodland habitats equally, but pumas had higher activity in riparian and woodland habitats. There was little evidence that bobcats avoided pumas in space use. Bobcats ate primarily rodents (33% of items in scats), lagomorphs (32%) and ungulates (16%), whereas pumas ate primarily ungulates (69%) and carnivores (21%). Pumas had a narrower dietary niche breadth than bobcats, and puma diet overlapped bobcat diet by 56%, suggesting that pumas may be more vulnerable to changes in prey density than bobcats. Pumas also killed and consumed bobcats, indicating that interference competition may be manifesting through intraguild predation.     

Gene flow and pathogen transmission among bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a fragmented urban landscape

Urbanization can result in the fragmentation of once contiguous natural landscapes into a patchy habitat interspersed within a growing urban matrix. Animals living in fragmented landscapes often have reduced movement among habitat patches because of avoidance of intervening human development, which potentially leads to both reduced gene flow and pathogen transmission between patches. Mammalian carnivores with large home ranges, such as bobcats (Lynx rufus), may be particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation. We performed genetic analyses on bobcats and their directly transmitted viral pathogen, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), to investigate the effects of urbanization on bobcat movement. We predicted that urban development, including major freeways, would limit bobcat movement and result in genetically structured host and pathogen populations. We analysed molecular markers from 106 bobcats and 19 FIV isolates from seropositive animals in urban southern California. Our findings indicate that reduced gene flow between two primary habitat patches has resulted in genetically distinct bobcat subpopulations separated by urban development including a major highway. However, the distribution of genetic diversity among FIV isolates determined through phylogenetic analyses indicates that pathogen genotypes are less spatially structured-exhibiting a more even distribution between habitat fragments. We conclude that the types of movement and contact sufficient for disease transmission occur with enough frequency to preclude structuring among the viral population, but that the bobcat population is structured owing to low levels of effective bobcat migration resulting in gene flow. We illustrate the utility in using multiple molecular markers that differentially detect movement and gene flow between subpopulations when assessing connectivity.     

Human activity reduces niche partitioning among three widespread mesocarnivores

Anthropogenic disturbances can constrain the realized niche space of wildlife by inducing avoidance behaviors and altering community dynamics. Human activity might contribute to reduced partitioning of niche space by carnivores that consume similar resources, both by promoting tolerant species while also altering behavior of species (e.g. activity patterns). We investigated the influence of anthropogenic disturbance on habitat and dietary niche breadth and overlap among competing carnivores, and explored if altered resource partitioning could be explained by human‐induced activity shifts. To describe the diets of coyotes, bobcat, and gray foxes, we designed a citizen science program to collect carnivore scat samples in low‐ (‘wildland’) and high‐ (‘interface’) human‐use open space preserves, and obtained diet estimates using a DNA metabarcoding approach. Habitat use was determined at scat locations. We found that coyotes expanded habitat and dietary niche breadth in interface preserves, whereas bobcats and foxes narrowed both niche breadth measures. High human use was related to increased dietary niche overlap among all mesocarnivore pairs, increased coyote habitat overlap with bobcats and foxes, and a small reduction in habitat overlap between bobcats and foxes. The strongest increase in diet overlap was among coyotes and foxes, which was smaller in magnitude than their habitat overlap increase. Finally, coyote scats were more likely to contain nocturnal prey in interface preserves, whereas foxes appeared to reduce consumption of nocturnal prey. Our results suggest that dominant and generalist mesocarnivores may encroach on the niche space of subordinate mesocarnivores in areas with high human activity, and that patterns in resource use may be related to human‐induced activity shifts.     

Dispersal Characteristics of Juvenile Bobcats in South-Central Indiana

ABSTRACT Bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations in the Midwestern United States experienced historic declines due to habitat loss and exploitation but have rebounded in recent decades. We investigated natal dispersal of juvenile bobcats from a population in south-central Indiana, USA, from 1999 to 2006. We radiocollared 16 juvenile bobcats (11 M, 5 F) and monitored them for 237–1,014 days (x̄ = 506). One female (20%) and 11 males (100%) dispersed from natal home ranges that averaged 14.6 km² in size. Most juveniles (70%) initiated dispersal from mid-February through March, late in their first year. Only 5 bobcats (42%) ultimately established a final home range 63 ± 35 km² in size 13–92 km (x̄ = 44) from their natal range 140 ± 45 days after initiating dispersal. Survival did not differ (P = 0.93) between dispersing (S = 0.73) and philopatric (S = 0.75) individuals, although 4 bobcats (3 M, 1 F) were killed in collisions with vehicles. We found dispersal of bobcats in fragmented landscapes is prolonged and often unsuccessful; the ability of dispersers to locate suitable vacant habitat patches may be vital to the continued growth of bobcat populations recolonizing the agricultural Midwest.     

Enrichment and Primate Centers: Closing the Gap Between Research and Practice

A wealth of published research is available to guide environmental enrichment programs for nonhuman primates, but common practice may not consistently correspond to research findings. A 2003 survey to quantify common practice queried individuals overseeing enrichment programs about (a) social, feeding, structural, and manipulable enrichment; (b) human interaction and training; (c) general program administration; (d) the role of the institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) in the enrichment program; and (e) the impetus for recent programmatic changes. Returned surveys provided information on the management of 35,863 primates and found social housing significantly more constrained than inanimate enrichment. Survey results suggest that social housing of macaques has not increased significantly over the past decade. The most commonly mentioned constraints related to research protocols. Facilities with thorough IACUC reviews of enrichment issues provided social housing for a significantly larger proportion of primates in biomedical research studies than did those with rare IACUC reviews. IACUC reviews prompted program enhancements much less often than did regulatory or accreditation inspections. These results suggest IACUC review is an underutilized mechanism for improving enrichment programs.