The escalating extinction of wildlife puts a high pressure on the standard of ex situ conservation. Some animals may spend several generations in captivity which may affect their natural behaviors and also a future reintroduction into the wild. Observations of animal behavior among captive animals are crucial for the understanding of ex situ conservation effects on behavior and in order to introduce and improve environmental enrichment. This study investigates activity and enclosure use of a sand cat (Felis margarita) at Parken zoo in Eskilstuna Sweden. Direct observations of behavior and movements were carried out and audience impact was also analyzed. The sand cat in the present study showed no behavioural response to the audience but it had some effect on his location in the enclosure. I also found that he was more active during late afternoon after feeding time and that he slept most during the forenoon. He used the whole enclosure to some extent but he spent most of his time in the cave, the front and the middle of the enclosure. Although he did not show any typical stereotypic behavior he had some odd habits that could probably be prevented through environmental enrichment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mdh-6683 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Carlsson, Linett |
| Publisher | Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för hållbar samhälls- och teknikutveckling |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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