Using a Timed Feeder to Increase Activity and Exhibit Usage in Captive Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) Melinda Castillo Abstract 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 forage for food. The feeder would cause a decrease in the time spent standing and an increase in the usage of the exhibit. An ethogram was created for this herd of giraffes and a distribution of exhibit usage was complied. Two methods of observations were conducted before and after the feeder was put on exhibit. Approximately 90 minutes worth of observations were done on each giraffe, using an instantaneous scan sampling, to measure the amount of time spent standing. I used an all occurrences sampling to determine the distribution of the giraffes in the exhibit. While the feeder is up in exhibit, the giraffes are predicted to show more movement and activity, as well as show a larger distribution across the exhibit. However, the results showed that the feeder did not have an effect on the movement of the giraffes (2 tailed t-test, t(5), p=0.47), nor was there an effect on the exhibit usage. Using a Gini coefficient to determine the distribution across the exhibit, the average before the feeder was 0.67 and after was 0.64, though the results did not prove significant after statistically analyzing them (2 tailed t-test, t(5), p=0.27).Introduction According to the UK Animal Welfare Codes, one of the basic needs of animals is the “opportunity to exercise the most normal patterns of behavior” (Hughes and Duncan, 1988). It is important to understand the behavior of captive giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis, as a welfare indicator, which may give an indication of the animal’s well-being (Veasey et.al. 1996). In general behaviors that are only displayed in captivity are considered negative behaviors (Koene and Visser, 1997). These behaviors are generally called stereotypic and include tongue playing, which is defined by Koene and Visser as “tongue movements free or on substrate,” or pacing in an exhibit (Bashaw, Tarou, Maki and Maple, 2001). Stereotypic behavior in captive giraffes is not well documented, however, in a study by Bashaw et. al., it was found that 79.7% of captive giraffes in 71 zoos across the United States displayed at least one stereotypic behavior. To maintain a population of captive animals, managers use tools called enrichment to 1) promote natural behaviors, which are those exhibited in the wild and 2) to decrease stereotypic behavior. Environmental enrichment can include the “social environment (group housing and human-animal interactions), the nutritional environment (how the animal gets its food), the sensory environment, and the physical environment” (Morrow-Tesch, 1997). Examples of enrichment in exhibits are scents, ropes, toys and hanging forage feeders. One use of enrichment by zookeepers is to prompt captive animals to use the entire exhibit, hoping to increase the amount of daily activity, thereby decreasing time spent displaying non-normal behaviors such as blank staring, lying in a non-sternal position and lolling the head around in circles (Koene and Visser, 1997). Using the time budget of wild animals as reference for captive animals, keepers can determine what kinds of enrichment are needed to promote animal welfare and encourage naturalistic behaviors (Veasey et.al. 1995). Giraffe research has been minimal compared to other large mammals in the wild and little information has been compiled on stereotypies and daily time budgets of captive giraffes (Bashaw et. al. 2001). I will be observing a herd of seven giraffes at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, California. This study will use an automatic timed feeder that will dispense food pellets into a bucket at random times during the day. There has been no research done on this herd involving daily activity so this study will precede any other that can be done on the time budgets of these captive giraffes, nor is there any research done on giraffes using a timed feeder. This study will perform a manipulation on the giraffe exhibit aimed to increase their activity anddecrease any stereotypic behaviors. In addition, I hope to provide insight for animal managers in zoos and wildlife parks on providing a more enriching lifestyle for captive giraffes. Giraffes spend much of their time in the wild walking and looking for food. Koene and Visser (1997) showed that males spend 43% of their daylight hours foraging, which includes walking and eating, and females with young spend some 72% of their time foraging. Overall, they found that wild giraffes spend only 5% of their time standing. In a study by Leuthold and Leuthold, 1978, the percentage of time wild giraffes spent walking was 26%, standing without eating was 14% and eating while standing or walking was 53%. This study will use a timed forage feeder as enrichment to encourage captive reticulated giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) to make full use of their environment, which in this case is the open exhibit they use during the day. This study will be novel because there are no studies on giraffes, in particular, involving a timed feeder. Full usage is defined in this study as spending time in different areas of the exhibit throughout the day, as opposed to staying in one or two areas for most of the time. I hypothesize that the use of a timed forage feeder will increase the usage of the exhibit, and increase the amount of daily activity, such as walking, running, eating and ruminating. Ruminating is an important part of a giraffes’ daily activity because it is time spent digesting their food. The addition of a new forage feeder to their exhibit will, in theory, prompt the giraffes to walk around the exhibit more. By increasing their time walking and looking for food, this may imitate the normal behavior in the wild where giraffes are eating and walking for most of the day. Methods Subjects and Exhibit The observations will be done at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, California.
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