Hartell-DeNardo Julie, Kozlowski Corinne, Baskir Eli, Macek Michael, Dorsey Candice, Powell David M
Animal Division, Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
Zoo Biol. 2023 Mar;42(2):243-253. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21735. Epub 2022 Sep 12.
Ambassador animals are part of many zoo programs, but studies assessing their impact on these animals are relatively rare. This study validated an excrement glucocorticoid metabolite (GCM) assay for Magellanic penguins and used GCM measures in conjunction with behavioral observations to evaluate individual responses to participation in an ambassador animal program. Excrement samples and behavioral observations were collected daily from each bird during two phases, 1 week during which it participated in a twice-daily ambassador program and 1 week in which it did not. We found no differences in GCMs between phases or in comparisons between penguins with 5 or 10 years of program experience. GCM also did not show significant individual variation and did not increase over time during the program phase. There were no significant correlations between bird experience and behavior frequencies, nor GCM concentrations and behavior, across birds. We observed significant positive correlations between the penguins' engagement with novel objects during programs and their unguided approach to guests. Our results suggest that there is no adverse physiological effect of program participation on these penguins, that behavioral and physiological responses may be decoupled, and that choice and control can increase desired behaviors behavior during ambassador programs.
大使动物是许多动物园项目的一部分，但评估它们对这些动物影响的研究相对较少。本研究验证了一种用于麦哲伦企鹅的粪便糖皮质激素代谢物（GCM）检测方法，并结合行为观察使用GCM测量值来评估个体对参与大使动物项目的反应。在两个阶段中，每天从每只企鹅收集粪便样本和行为观察数据，一个阶段为期1周，在此期间它每天参与两次大使项目，另一个阶段为期1周，在此期间它不参与。我们发现不同阶段之间以及有5年或10年项目经验的企鹅之间的GCM没有差异。GCM在项目阶段也没有显示出显著的个体差异，也没有随时间增加。在所有企鹅中，鸟类经验与行为频率之间、GCM浓度与行为之间均无显著相关性。我们观察到企鹅在项目期间与新物体的互动与其对游客的无引导接近之间存在显著的正相关。我们的结果表明，参与项目对这些企鹅没有不利生理影响，行为和生理反应可能是解耦的，并且选择和控制可以增加大使项目期间的期望行为。
