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The influence of feeding opportunities of six zoohoused Giraffa camelopardalis rothschild

Previous studies on captive giraffes have shown that an increase in foraging opportunities leads to reduced abnormal behaviour. This study evaluates the nocturnal behaviours of six captive giraffes, housed in Aalborg Zoo (N: 57.04°, E: 9.90°). The herd consists of one male giraffe (age 8), one male calf (age 1 ½), two female giraffe (age 7; 20) and two female calves (age 8 months; 2 years). The observations lasted eight nights and compared two observation periods (October and November) with

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Assessment of contrafreeloading preferences in giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Contrafreeloading is an intriguing phenomenon in which animals will work to obtain resources, such as food, when the same resource is simultaneously freely available. Multiple hypotheses exist for why animals might choose to contrafreeload. In this study, we assessed preferences for contrafreeloading in giraffe at the Bronx Zoo to determine whether they actually preferred to contrafreeload or were simply demonstrating a willingness to contrafreeload. Food was presented in a range of distributions between an easily accessed feeding device and a

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Analysis of stereotypic behaviour and enhanced management in captive Northern Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis housed at Zoological Garden Alipore, Kolkata

In the wild, giraffes live complex social lives exhibiting fission-fusion social systems. They have sophisticated communication which likely forms a crucial component regulating subgroup dynamics. They spend a large part of their day browsing and travelling over large distances. In captivity, lack of continuous browsing opportunities and limited space can lead to various abnormal and stereotypic behaviours. These stereotypic behaviours can have cascading detrimental health consequences. A behavioural analysis of stereotypic behaviours in giraffes under human care was conducted to

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Scientific Approaches to Enrichment and Stereotypies in Zoo Animals: What’s Been Done and Where Should We Go Next?

The zoo scientific community was among the first to focus attention on captivity induced stereotypic behaviors, their causes, and methods of eradication. Environmental enrichment has emerged recently as the main husbandry tool for tackling this problem. An increasing number of research publications have attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of enrichment in reducing stereotypic behavior and to develop further concepts to explain how effective enrichment works. A review and meta-analysis of this literature indicates that enrichment is a successful technique for

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Using a timed feeder to increase activity and exhibit usage in captive giraffes (giraffa camelopardalis)

The use of enrichment to simulate a natural environment has become increasingly important in the management of captive animals, especially in large exotic ungulates. Indicators of positive welfare in giraffes are behaviors that mimic those displayed in the wild. This study uses a randomly timed feeder in an exhibit for a herd of seven captive giraffes at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, California. I hypothesize that the feeder can be used to stimulate more naturalistic behaviors, where the giraffes continuously

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The Giraffe Husbandry Resource Manual

Giraffes have been kept in captive situations for hundreds of years. Nevertheless, it would be very difficult to describe a singular optimal situation for keeping giraffe, outside of their natural environment. Much of the information contained within will illustrate multiple situations where giraffe were managed successfully, to allow the reader to make husbandry decisions that will best suit their individual facilities and create the most suitable program for their herd. The information found within this manual should be used as

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Analyses of captive behaviour and enclosure use in Rothschild giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) housed at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park

It has been suggested that wild herbivorous animals, like the Rothschild Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi), are difficult to house in captivity due to their natural wide home range and specialised diet. The aim of this study was to understand what influence the design of the giraffe enclosure at Paignton Zoo has on the activity budget of the Rothschild Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) housed in it, in relation to enclosure use and the performance of a natural behavioural repertoire. This was

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Enrichment Methods used for Giraffa camelopardalis & Gazella dama mhorr at The East Midland Zoological Society: Twycross Zoo

To provide a more stimulating captive environment and to illicit species-specific behaviours, a review of the enrichment techniques used for two browsing ruminants, (the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and the Mhorr gazelle (Gazella dama mhorr), held at Twycross Zoo was undertaken. It is well known that the majority of giraffe in captivity will develop some form of abnormal behaviour (EAZA, 2006) and hence enrichment protocols are vital in keeping animals occupied and stress-free.

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