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Biolatti, C.; Modesto, P.; Dezzutto, D.; Pera, F.; Tarantola, M.; Gennero, M.S.; Maurella, C.; Acutis, P.L.
Behavioural analysis of captive tigers (_Panthera tigris_): a water pool makes the difference
2016  Applied Animal Behaviour Science (174): 173-180

The activity budgets of seven captive tigers (_Panthera tigris_) housed in four zoological gardens (A, B, C,D) were analysed to assess their welfare and to relate it to several variables, including enclosure type,management, and animal history. Behaviours were recorded by instantaneous focal animal sampling at 2-min intervals. Data were collected by five observers using an ethogram listing 26 behaviours adaptedfrom the literature. To process the data, the activity budgets of each tiger and the overall activity budgetwere constructed. On the basis of previous literature, some of the behaviours, listed in the ethogram, werelabelled as indicators of diminished welfare and some were labelled as indicators of enhanced welfare.Statistical analysis was carried out to determine in which zoo the tigers were more prone to exhibit indi-cators of enhanced welfare and which feature(s) had a major effect on their welfare. Over 195 h of datawere collected and 5867 observations were recorded. The tigers in zoo A (OR = 4.11, 95% confidence inter-val [CI] 3.2-5.3) and zoo C (OR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.4-2.4) were more prone to express indicators of enhancedwelfare with respect to zoo D as the reference. Among the variables describing animal peculiarity, dailyroutine management, and enclosure features, the presence of a water pool with clean water was signif-icantly associated with enhanced welfare (OR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.4-3.04). The data suggested that none ofthe tigers displayed consistent signs of stress and that all experienced a basic welfare status. An essentialfeature that helped to enhance good animal welfare was a water pool in the enclosure containing cleanwater.

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