Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
AI-curated summaries for the pride’s library — verify citations independently before citing.
42 summaries in Captive Care & Welfare on cheetah
Research overview: surplus animals and population management in captive felid programs
OverviewManaging captive felid populations sustainably requires controlling breeding to match available space and genetic goals, which raises difficult questions about surplus animals. This overview surveys t…
Research overview: the SPIDER framework and goal-directed enrichment programs
OverviewEffective enrichment is a structured process, not a collection of toys, and the SPIDER framework, Setting goals, Planning, Implementing, Documenting, Evaluating and Re-adjusting, formalises this cycle…
Research overview: the keeper-animal relationship and felid welfare
OverviewFamiliar keepers occupy a special place in a captive animal's social environment, and the quality of the keeper-animal relationship can influence stress, cooperation and welfare. This overview surveys…
Research overview: the visitor effect in captive felids
OverviewThis overview surveys how the presence and behaviour of visitors specifically affect captive cats, a group that frequently responds to crowds with vigilance, hiding or altered activity. It examines st…
Research overview: transport, transfer and translocation stress in captive felids
OverviewMoving cats between institutions for breeding, rescue or management is a recognised acute stressor with welfare implications. This overview surveys the science of felid transport and transfer: the str…
Research overview: using cortisol monitoring to evaluate management interventions in felids
OverviewNon-invasive cortisol metabolite monitoring lets keepers test whether husbandry changes actually reduce physiological stress, moving welfare management from intuition to evidence. This overview survey…
Research overview: validating faecal cortisol metabolite assays in captive felids
OverviewFaecal glucocorticoid metabolite monitoring is the workhorse of felid stress research because it avoids the confound of capture and restraint, but it requires species-specific validation to be meaning…
Research overview: welfare of lions and big cats in safari parks and drive-through enclosures
OverviewSafari parks house big cats, especially lions, in large drive-through enclosures that visitors traverse by vehicle, a model with distinctive welfare features. This overview surveys the welfare conside…
Research overview: white lions, king cheetahs and the welfare ethics of selecting colour morphs
OverviewBeyond white tigers, other captive felid colour variants, white lions and the patterned king cheetah, raise similar questions about breeding for appearance. This overview surveys the genetics of these…
Sources of stress in captivity
ReviewMorgan and Tromborg comprehensively reviewed the environmental factors that stress captive animals, cataloguing sound, light, odour, temperature, substrate, restraint, human presence, predictability a…
Morgan KN, Tromborg CT · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2007
The effect of different types of enrichment on the behaviour of cheetahs in captivity
PaperQuirke and O'Riordan tested several enrichment types on captive cheetahs at a breeding park, measuring effects on activity, exploration and stereotypic pacing. Different enrichments varied in effectiv…
Quirke T, O'Riordan RM · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2011
Why and how should we use environmental enrichment to tackle stereotypic behaviour?
ReviewMason, Clubb, Latham and Vickery reviewed the evidence that environmental enrichment reduces stereotypies, and found the picture more nuanced than commonly assumed. Across studies, enrichment often re…
Mason G, Clubb R, Latham N, Vickery S · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2007