Ozella Laura, Favaro Livio, Carnovale Irene, Pessani Daniela
a Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology , University of Torino , Italy.
J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2015;18(3):303-9. doi: 10.1080/10888705.2014.977384. Epub 2014 Nov 17.
Nonhuman animals in zoos are exposed to a continuous human presence, which affects their behaviors and welfare. However, little is known about what role the "visitor effect" has on penguins in captivity. The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is an endangered species commonly housed in zoos worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the abundance of human bathers could reduce the average time spent in the water of a colony of African penguins housed in an exhibit where their pond habitat was adjacent to a swimming pool. Observations were carried out on 7 penguins in the summer of 2009. Data were collected during 3 time periods (Time 1 [T1] = opening of the swimming season, Time 2 [T2] = core of the season, Time 3 [T3] = late season) of 14 days each. The human disturbance caused by bathers strongly reduced the pond use by penguins at T1 and T2, especially when there were large numbers of visitors. However, at T3, we observed that the overall use of the pond by penguins increased, and the average duration of their diving was no longer dependent on the number of visitors.
动物园中的非人类动物持续暴露在人类面前，这会影响它们的行为和福利。然而，对于“游客效应”对圈养企鹅有何作用却知之甚少。非洲企鹅（斑嘴环企鹅）是一种濒危物种，在世界各地的动物园中普遍饲养。本研究的目的是评估在一个展览中，当非洲企鹅群落的池塘栖息地与游泳池相邻时，游泳的人的数量是否会减少企鹅在水中的平均停留时间。2009年夏天对7只企鹅进行了观察。在3个时间段（时间段1 [T1] =游泳季节开始，时间段2 [T2] =季节中期，时间段3 [T3] =季节后期）收集数据，每个时间段为14天。在T1和T2时，游泳者造成的人为干扰极大地减少了企鹅对池塘的使用，尤其是当游客数量众多时。然而，在T3时，我们观察到企鹅对池塘的总体使用增加了，并且它们的平均潜水时间不再取决于游客数量。
