Chiew Samantha J, Butler Kym L, Sherwen Sally L, Coleman Grahame J, Fanson Kerry V, Hemsworth Paul H
Animal Welfare Science Centre, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, North Melbourne, Victoria 3051, Australia.
Biometrics Team, Agriculture Victoria Research, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, Hamilton, Victoria 3300, Australia.
Animals (Basel). 2019 May 28;9(6):285. doi: 10.3390/ani9060285.
We examined the effects of regulating the viewing proximity of visitors and the intensity of visitor behaviour on behaviours indicative of fear and stress physiology of 15 zoo-housed little penguins () A 2 × 2 factorial fully randomised design was used to examine the effects of regulating: 1) the viewing proximity of visitors to enclosure, 'normal viewing distance' and 'increased viewing distance' (using a physical barrier set up 2 m away from the enclosure), and 2) the intensity of visitor behaviour, 'unregulated visitor behaviour' and 'regulated visitor behaviour' (using signage and uniformed personnel). In addition, a treatment consisting of closing the enclosure to visitors was included. Penguin behaviour, visitor numbers and visitor behaviour were recorded by CCTV video recordings and direct observations, respectively. Penguin faecal glucocorticoid metabolites were also analysed as a measure of stress physiology. We found that increased viewing distance reduced ( < 0.05) all visitor behaviours except for loud vocalisations and tactile contact with penguins. However, there were no direct effects of signage and uniformed personnel on visitor behaviour ( > 0.05). As the regulation of viewing proximity increased from a closed exhibit to an open exhibit with increased viewing distance, and then to an open exhibit with normal viewing distance, this increased the proportion of penguins huddling ( = 0.0011), vigilant ( = 0.0060) and retreating ( = 0.00013), and decreased the proportion of penguins within 1 m of the visitor viewing area ( = 0.00066), surface swimming ( = 0.00091) and preening in the water ( = 0.042). There were also limited effects of regulating visitor behaviour on penguin behaviour. No treatment effects were found on faecal glucocorticoid metabolites ( > 0.05). These results indicate that regulating visitor viewing proximity affects penguin behaviours indicative of fear and visitor behaviour. This suggests that close visitor contact can be fear-provoking for little penguins but increasing the distance between visitors and penguins can reduce fear responses of penguins by regulating both viewing proximity and visitor behaviour. However, it is unclear whether these changes in penguin behaviour are due to the increased separation between visitors and penguins and/or specific visitor behaviours associated with close viewing proximity to the enclosure, such as leaning over the enclosure or tactile contact with the pool, which are impeded when visitors are further away.
我们研究了调整游客观看距离以及游客行为强度对15只圈养在动物园的小企鹅恐惧和应激生理相关行为的影响。采用2×2析因完全随机设计来研究以下调整的影响：1）游客到围栏的观看距离，“正常观看距离”和“增加观看距离”（使用在围栏2米外设置的物理屏障），以及2）游客行为强度，“无管制游客行为”和“有管制游客行为”（使用标识牌和穿制服的工作人员）。此外，还设置了一项对游客关闭围栏的处理。分别通过闭路电视录像和直接观察记录企鹅行为、游客数量和游客行为。还分析了企鹅粪便中的糖皮质激素代谢物作为应激生理的一项指标。我们发现增加观看距离会减少（P<0.05）除大声鸣叫和与企鹅的触觉接触外的所有游客行为。然而，标识牌和穿制服的工作人员对游客行为没有直接影响（P>0.05）。随着观看距离从封闭展区增加到增加观看距离的开放展区，再到正常观看距离的开放展区，这增加了挤在一起的企鹅比例（P = 0.0011）、警惕的企鹅比例（P = 0.0060）和退缩的企鹅比例（P = 0.00013），并减少了在游客观看区域1米范围内的企鹅比例（P = 0.00066）、水面游泳的企鹅比例（P = 0.00091）和在水中梳理羽毛的企鹅比例（P = 0.042）。对游客行为的管制对企鹅行为的影响也有限。在粪便糖皮质激素代谢物方面未发现处理效应（P>0.05）。这些结果表明，调整游客观看距离会影响企鹅表现出恐惧的行为以及游客行为。这表明游客与小企鹅近距离接触会引发恐惧，但通过调整观看距离和游客行为来增加游客与企鹅之间的距离，可以减少企鹅的恐惧反应。然而，尚不清楚企鹅行为的这些变化是由于游客与企鹅之间距离增加和/或与靠近围栏近距离观看相关的特定游客行为，如靠在围栏上或与水池的触觉接触，当游客距离更远时这些行为会受到阻碍。
