Fernandez Loraine Tarou, Bashaw Meredith J, Sartor Richard L, Bouwens Nichole R, Maki Todd S
Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Zoo Biol. 2008 May;27(3):200-12. doi: 10.1002/zoo.20180.
Stereotypic behavior has been well-studied and documented in a variety of animals including primates, carnivores, and domesticated ungulates. However, very little information is known about stereotypic behavior of captive exotic ungulates. Giraffe have been found to perform a wide range of stereotypic behaviors. According to a survey of zoological institutions, oral stereotypies, specifically the licking of nonfood objects are the most prevalent stereotypic behaviors observed in giraffe. Their performance appears to be related to feeding and rumination and may be a result of the inability of a highly motivated feeding behavior pattern, tongue manipulation, to be successfully completed. To test this hypothesis, the indoor and outdoor feeders for three giraffe housed at Zoo Atlanta were modified to require the giraffe to perform more naturalistic and complex foraging behaviors. Data were collected using instantaneous scan sampling in both exhibit and holding areas. Our results showed that, for the giraffe that engaged in the highest rates of oral stereotypic behavior in the baseline, more complex feeders that required tongue use to access grain or alfalfa had the greatest effect on behavior. For the giraffe that performed low baseline rates of oral stereotypic behavior, adding slatted tops to the alfalfa feeders indoors virtually eliminated the behavior. Although some changes in ruminating and feeding behavior were observed, the decreases in stereotypic behavior were not associated with the changes in ruminating or feeding behavior. These results provide evidence for the hypothesis that oral stereotypy in herbivores can be reduced by encouraging giraffe to engage in more naturalistic foraging behavior.
刻板行为在包括灵长类动物、食肉动物和家养有蹄类动物在内的多种动物中已得到充分研究和记录。然而，关于圈养外来有蹄类动物的刻板行为，人们所知甚少。长颈鹿已被发现会表现出多种刻板行为。根据一项对动物园机构的调查，口部刻板行为，特别是舔舐非食物物体，是在长颈鹿中观察到的最普遍的刻板行为。它们的表现似乎与进食和反刍有关，可能是高度活跃的进食行为模式（舌头操作）无法成功完成的结果。为了验证这一假设，对亚特兰大动物园饲养的三只长颈鹿的室内和室外喂食器进行了改造，要求长颈鹿表现出更自然、更复杂的觅食行为。在展览区和饲养区使用瞬间扫描取样法收集数据。我们的结果表明，对于在基线时口部刻板行为发生率最高的长颈鹿，需要用舌头获取谷物或苜蓿的更复杂的喂食器对行为的影响最大。对于口部刻板行为基线发生率较低的长颈鹿，在室内苜蓿喂食器上添加板条顶部实际上消除了这种行为。虽然观察到反刍和进食行为有一些变化，但刻板行为的减少与反刍或进食行为的变化无关。这些结果为以下假设提供了证据：通过鼓励长颈鹿进行更自然的觅食行为，可以减少食草动物的口部刻板行为。
