Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
AI-curated summaries for the pride’s library — verify citations independently before citing.
78 summaries in Captive Care & Welfare on leopard
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: vertical structure, complexity and three-dimensional space in felid enclosures
OverviewCats are arboreal-capable, climbing predators that value height, and research consistently shows captive felids prefer and benefit from elevated resting platforms, climbing structures and visually com…
Research overview: welfare and safety of privately owned big cats
OverviewPrivate ownership of tigers, lions and other big cats, historically widespread in some countries, raises acute welfare and public-safety concerns. This overview surveys the issues: inadequate enclosur…
Research overview: welfare frameworks from the Five Freedoms to positive welfare
OverviewConceptual frameworks structure how we judge captive animal welfare, and they have evolved over time. This overview surveys the progression from the Five Freedoms, freedom from hunger, discomfort, pai…
Research overview: welfare in roadside zoos and pseudo-sanctuaries
OverviewMany big cats live in poorly regulated roadside zoos and facilities that adopt the sanctuary label without meeting its standards, raising acute welfare concerns. This overview surveys the issues disti…
Scientific approaches to enrichment and stereotypies in zoo animals
ReviewSwaisgood and Shepherdson reviewed how rigorously zoos had studied enrichment and stereotypy, surveying the published literature for methodological quality. They found many anecdotal claims but a grow…
Swaisgood RR, Shepherdson DJ · Zoo Biology · 2005
Second Nature: environmental enrichment for captive animals
ReviewThis edited volume brought together early scientific work on environmental enrichment, consolidating it into a coherent field. Chapters covered the history, theory, design and evaluation of enrichment…
Shepherdson DJ, Mellen JD, Hutchins M (eds) · Smithsonian Institution Press · 1998
Sensory stimulation as environmental enrichment for captive animals: a review
ReviewWells reviewed how stimulating the senses, through olfactory, auditory, visual and tactile inputs, can enrich captive animals. She summarised evidence that scents such as spices and prey odours, sound…
Wells DL · Applied Animal Behaviour Science · 2009
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
Stereotypies: a critical review
ReviewMason's review synthesised decades of work on stereotypic behaviour across captive species, defining stereotypies as repetitive, invariant movements with no obvious goal. She argued they arise from fr…
Mason GJ · Animal Behaviour · 1991
The effects of physical characteristics of the environment and feeding regime on the behavior of captive felids
PaperLyons, Young and Deag surveyed multiple felid species across enclosures differing in size, complexity and feeding routine to identify what most affects behaviour. They found that enclosure usage and a…
Lyons J, Young RJ, Deag JM · Zoo Biology · 1997
The visitor effect on zoo animals: implications and opportunities for zoo animal welfare
ReviewSherwen and Hemsworth reviewed and reframed the visitor effect, drawing on human-animal interaction science from farm animals to argue that visitors are a salient and often underestimated feature of t…
Sherwen SL, Hemsworth PH · Animals · 2019
Training is enrichment - and beyond
PaperWestlund argued that positive-reinforcement training should be viewed as a form of environmental enrichment in its own right, not merely a husbandry convenience. She described how training sessions pr…
Westlund K · Journal of Veterinary Behavior · 2014
Visitor reaction to pacing behavior: influence on perceptions of animal care
PaperMiller investigated how zoo visitors interpret stereotypic pacing, showing them footage of an animal pacing versus behaving normally and surveying their reactions. Visitors who saw pacing rated the an…
Miller LJ · Zoo Biology · 2012
Visitors' effects on the welfare of animals in the zoo: a review
ReviewDavey reviewed the evidence on how the presence, number and behaviour of visitors affect captive zoo animals. He found that visitors can act as a source of stress, enrichment or both depending on spec…
Davey G · Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science · 2007
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
Wild Animals in Captivity
ReviewHediger, often called the father of zoo biology, wrote this seminal book establishing that captive animals have psychological as well as physical needs. He introduced concepts such as flight distance,…
Hediger H · Butterworths Scientific Publications · 1950
Zoo Animal Welfare
ReviewMaple and Perdue's book provided a comprehensive treatment of welfare science as applied to zoos and aquariums, covering its history, ethical foundations, assessment methods and practical application…
Maple TL, Perdue BM · Springer (Animal Welfare series) · 2013