Fazio Jilian M, Barthel Tony, Freeman Elizabeth W, Garlick-Ott Kay, Scholle Anne, Brown Janine L
Department of Animal Programs, Animal Care Sciences, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park, 3100 Connecticut Ave., Washington, DC 20013, USA.
Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Rd., Front Royal, VA 22630, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2020 Nov 3;10(11):2026. doi: 10.3390/ani10112026.
Accredited zoos and aquariums value superior animal husbandry and strive to ensure that the physical, psychological, and social needs of animals are met. In North America, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) relies on species-specific standards to ensure facilities provide the best care for collection animals. The AZA also makes explicit recommendations for long-term monitoring of welfare. Data collected through behavioral observations can be used to modify management as animals respond over time to social, environmental, or physical changes. In long-lived, social species like elephants, it is particularly important to document herd dynamics, calf development, geriatric health, and social bonds throughout their lifetimes. The Smithsonian's National Zoological Park housed one male and six female Asian elephants in dynamic social groupings. Behavioral observations were conducted on all elephants for two years using two methods involving ZooMonitor, closed circuit cameras, and camera traps. The goal was to compare how these two methods function to provide individual activity budgets, habitat use, and social interactions. Methodologies such as these, alone or in combination, have the potential to produce valuable data about potential changes in welfare over time in a zoological setting and can be performed either by staff or volunteers with high reliability.
经认可的动物园和水族馆重视卓越的动物饲养管理，并努力确保动物的生理、心理和社会需求得到满足。在北美，动物园和水族馆协会（AZA）依靠特定物种标准来确保设施为圈养动物提供最佳照料。AZA还就福利的长期监测提出了明确建议。通过行为观察收集的数据可用于随着动物对社会、环境或身体变化的长期反应而调整管理方式。在大象等长寿的群居物种中，记录其群体动态、幼崽发育、老年健康状况以及一生的社会关系尤为重要。史密森尼国家动物园将一头雄性亚洲象和六头雌性亚洲象安置在动态的社会群体中。使用涉及动物园监测系统、闭路摄像头和相机陷阱的两种方法，对所有大象进行了为期两年的行为观察。目的是比较这两种方法在提供个体活动预算、栖息地利用和社会互动方面的作用。诸如此类的方法，单独使用或结合使用，都有可能产生有关动物园环境中福利随时间潜在变化的有价值数据，并且可以由工作人员或志愿者以高可靠性进行操作。
