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Risk factors for stereotypic behaviour in captive ungulates

Behavioural needs are highly motivated actions critical to a species’ survival and reproduction. Prolonged restriction of these behaviours can lead to stereotypic behaviours (SB) in captive animals, and this is particularly common in ungulate species. While risk factors for SB have been suggested for some ungulates, no study has integrated these findings to identify which aspects of ungulates’ wild behavioural biology and captive husbandry are potential drivers for SB across this clade. We collated SB data from 15,236 individuals across

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Why Giraffes have Anxiety

The location of zoos in metropolitan areas exposes animals to stressors that they are not biologically adapted to. The abundance of visitors and their close proximity to the animals causes undue harm to the creatures’ welfare, resulting in a poor quality of life.

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Does tooth wear influence ageing? A comparative study across large herbivores

We test whether the intensity of tooth wear influences the strength of actuarial senescence across species of large herbivores. We collected from the literature data on tooth wear in the wild (measured as the slope of the regression of log-transformed M1 crown height on age), longevity (measured as the age at which 90% of individuals are dead) and two metrics of actuarial senescence in captive populations (rate of senescence between 6 and 12 years of age and Gompertz rate of

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Enclosure size in captive wild mammals: A comparison between UK zoological collections and the wild

A comparison was made between the average enclosure size of a random sample of mammals lept during the years 2000-2001in a random sample of UK zoological collections and the minimum home range of these taxa in the wild. Allometric laws were used to estimate the home range area, while direct observation from videotaped visits to the collections was used to estimate enclosure size area. The results showed that, as an average, the average enclosure size had an area 100 times

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The first description of dominance hierarchy in captive giraffe: Not loose and egalitarian, but clear and linear

Wild giraffes live in extensive groups in the fission fusion system, maintaining long social distances and loose social bonds. Within these groups, resources are widely distributed, agonistic encounters are scarce and the dominance hierarchy was reported in males only, while never deeply analysed. In captivity, the possibility to maintain inter-individual distances is limited and part of the resources is not evenly distributed. Consequently, we suggest that agonistic encounters should be more frequent, leading to the establishment of the dominance hierarchy.

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Equine Herpesvirus Type 9 in Giraffe with Encephalitis

Herpesviruses have been isolated from many mammals. Herpesvirus infection in natural hosts is often mild and is usually followed by a latent infection; however, cross-species herpesvirus infections cause severe and fatal diseases. These findings may explain why the giraffe had lesions while the zebras in the same enclosure did not. Outcome: The fact the zebras were apparently healthy and seropositive for EHV-1 raises the possibility that the virus was reactivated and shed by one of the zebras, resulting in systemic

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Reproduction in the giraffe in relation to some environmental factors

Environmental influences on reproduction in female giraffe were investigated by calculating conception dates for 123 calves and twenty foetal giraffe from the eastern Transvaal, South Africa. Of these, 60% occurred during the 4 months December to March. This period is the peak of the austral summer when plant leaf production is at a maximum, the preferred food species of the giraffe are abundant and the protein and energy content of these are high. Rainfall is also highest at this time.

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The sex ratio of the giraffe

61.5 per cent of the 117 young giraffes born in captivity were males. A similar preponderance of males has been observed among adult giraffes in Transvaal and in Amboseli National Reserve, but not in Nairobi National Park where 60.7 per cent of the adults were females. The possible causes of such abnormal sex ratios are discussed. (Article is in French)

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The behaviour of giraffe giraffa camelopardalis in the eastern transvaal

The giraffe in South Africa live entirely in the Eastern Transvaal, a lowveld region primarily of grass or veld with scattered bushes and low trees. The giraffe browse on a wide variety of trees in the spring and fall when few leaves are available, but in summer when all the trees are in foliage they are much more selective. The giraffe spend most of the day and part of the night feeding, especially the early morning and late afternoon. In

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