Behavior evolves in complex environments to increase an individual's survival and reproductive success in its native habitat

(changes can lead to divergence between captive and wild populations)

A stimulus that pinpoints the exact moment that the behavioral criterion (for that approximation) is met. The "bridge", as it is often reffered to, communicates to the subject that it has performed correctly and often signals that additional reinforcement is on the way. It "bridges" the gap between the time the correct response is given and the time the additional reinforcer is delivered.

It is a stimulus that can act as both an cue and a secondary reinforcer

an initially neutral stimulus that will elicit a specific response as a result of repeated pairing or learnied association between that stimulus an that response.

A discriminative stimulus, or cue, is a conditioned stimulus

 A schedule of reinforcement in which not every correct response is reinforced.

Any schedule of reinforcement that is not continuous (i.e. variable ration, variable interval, fixed ration, fixed interval).

A type of learning in which behavior is determined by its consequences. A behavior is strenghened if followed by reinforcement (positive or negative) and diminished if followed by punishment.

The animal "operates" on the environment, leading to the desired outcome.

Anything (either the application of a stimulus or the removal of a stimulus) that occurs in conjunction with a behavior that tends to increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur again

+ (food) attractive stimulus sought or added to environment

- aversive stimulus

An operant-conditioned metod of taking an action or tendency and shifiting it, one approximation, or step at a time, toward the final behavioral goal; building of a bheavior by dividing it into small increments or steps and then teaching one step at a time until the desired behavior is achieved.

Steps become a series of intermediated goals

a behavior that is said to be under stimulus control if it meets 3 conditions

1. immediately offered following S^D (cue)
2. offered only when preceded by the correct S^D (cue)
3. not offered in the presence of another S^D (cue)

1. is the animal healthy (measure glucocorticoids)
2. Does the animal have what it wants (difficult to determine)

1. environmenal conditions and changes
2. physiological and behavioral responses to these changes
3. biological changes to health, reproduction, and disease processes

1. using environmental modifications and enrichment experimentally to reduce negative behaviors such as stereotypy, aggression, excessive inactivity
2. Choice tests through wich animal may indicate which behavior they are most highly motivated to perform

-animals prefer challenges and engagement over passive rewards

-many species prefer to work for food as opposed to getting food for free

mink: expend more energy pressing a weighted door to aquired access to a swimming pool than to gain access to toys, novel objects, or alternative nest sites

need-satisfying

appetitive motivation are thought to cause animals to seek something missing in the environment and is channeled towards repetitive locomotion (stereotypies) in zoos

black bear and Geoffroy's cat show pacing stereotypies 2-4 hours before feeding time

gerbils with wood chip substrates/artificial burrows have less digging behavior than those with thin layers of sand substrates

(konrad Lorenz-birds)

young must learn to follow the mother (rather than objects/individuals not resembling the mother) within a critical period. If the animal imprints to the wrong species it causes problems (agressive behavior and reproductive success)

when the expression of traits at one end of a distribution is favored

(in wild foraging time is a trade-off with predator avoidance; however in captivity this trade-off is non-existant)

directional: behavior shifts from one type to the other

relaxed: less constrained overall (behaviors not supported in wild have room in captivity/not selected against)

live in large, hierarchial social groups with males affiliate with female groups.

Mating is promiscouous.

Young are precocial and experience a sensitive imprinting period during development.

Adapted to wide range of environments and diets

many species found to benefit

-avoid common predators

-exposing carnivores to local prey

baby prairie dogs where exposed to either a live black-footed ferret, live prairie rattle snake, or mounted red tailed hawk

calculation used trait variane to determine the number of released individuals needed such that the target number of individuals exhibits natural behavior

(if calculated to be 1.5 then 150 animals must be released to ensure 100 exhibit wild-like behaviors)

tolerance: is the waning or decline of a response due to repeated presentation of the eliciting stimulus.

zookeepers: actively manipulate the environment to encourage habituation causing desensitization (can offer positive reinforcement paired with the negative stimulus)

mice introduced to a new chamber will defecate but after so many days of reintroduction they stop

a neutral event initially incapable of evoking a physiological response acquires the ability to do so through repeated pairing with other stimuli that are able to elicit such responses

(zoo cat startled by camera flash develops response to mere presence of camera)

"instrumental learning"

behavior is determined by its consequences or outcome (+ or - reinforcement). operant: highly dependent on the behavior of the animal

Mandrill is taught to enter holding area by initially placing food there

behavior in which the animal appears to develop strategies incidental to learning the task itself (i.e. the animal is "learning to learn", foraging, predation, mate choice, parental care, and social interactions) can involve observation of others' behaviors

(young orcas in aquariam learn to perform from mother and other orcas.)

reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses

produces the fastes rate of learning and is the best at maintaining behavior

food, water, warmth

their capacity to reinforce is based on a biological need

result of a stimulus like a whistle that is repeatedly paired with a primary reinforcer such as food, then that stimulus becomes a conditioned or secondary reinforcer

(also used as bridging stimulus or bridge)

genetic predispositions make animals____ to learn certain tasks:

Prepared: learn easy because they are natural to perform

Contraprepared: difficult becasue they run counter to the species natural history

Unprepared: neither difficult nor easy to learn

1. safe for animals, caretakers, visitors
2. encourage species appropriate behaviors and allow animal to move easily and comfortably
3. facilitate animal care, including cleaning, feeding, enrichment, and training
4. allow visitors a good view of the animal

-do not work young male ungulates too much (or young males in general) they may direct aggression toward humans after sexual maturity

-it is not always in the best interest of anyone to train an animal for all situations (cost/stress of training must be weighted against the benefits) - ungulates that only get vaccinated once a year are probably best just restrained

SPIDER

S: setting goals

P: planning

I: implementing

D: documenting

E: evaluating

R: re-adjusting

occurs when there is a positive correlation between the number or density of individuals and the average fitness or reproductive success.

(due to cooperation, environmental effects, etc)

Walter Allee (1930s) found that more goldfish in a single tank increased the growth rate

-goal of equalizing genetic contributions of founders, eliminating hierarchis may be desirable...

-follow the rule of "nature" only when it fits the goal of captive breeding programs

-limited insight into what happens in the wild

-captivity reduces ability to escape conflict so wild structure may be inappropriate

-use trial and error (modify to suit individual)

diseases that spread from humans to animals

(measles and tuberculosis)

868 or 61%

and 175 are emerging

food

animals

people

-transmission routes differ by disease and every disease may have multiple modes of transmission

(foodborne illness is particularly high in zoological institutions)

-their increasingly important role in assistance to free ranging wildlife, abandoned exotic pets with unknown histories and both legally and illegally confiscated pets

-international introduction of pathogens (anthrax scare)

1. prevention of disease introductin
2. control of the spread of disease; and or eradication of an introduced disease

AZA accreditation states that veterinary care programs must implement disease prevention/vaccination strategies

(quarantine, parasite surveillance, procedures/control, immunization, infections disease screeing, dental prophylaxis/ periodic reviews of diets, husbandry techniques and vermin)

challenging:

Malignant catarrhal fever (infectious disease common in wildebeest and hartebeests, African alcelaphins) has caused considerable mortality in Asian cervids (deer) in zoos

(spred of herpes between Asian and African elephants)

integrated Pest Management

1. setting an action threshold (point at which pest population or environmental conditions that pest control action should be taken)
2. identifying the pest/understanding its biology
3. monitoring
4. inmplementing prevention and control strategies
5. evaluating results

(necropsies of wild animals found around facility)

-larger animals may be best quarantined before shipment

-social species may need a friend

-protocols must be reasonable and consider the welfare of the animal involved

conception to birt

-most losses occur in the first days or weeks, before pregnancy can be diagnosed by more conventional techniques

period of suspended development: noted in many species including Australian macropods

females may maintain considerable control over actual timing of birth by delaying first stages of parturition (labor)

Ketosis undernourishment during pregnancy causes the build up of ketone bodies resulting in pregnancy toxemia (particularly with multiple births)

bovids and caprids: overfeeding in early pregnancy can lead to pregnancy toxemia in late pregnancy: apparent parodox may be due to progesterone levels which are inversely related to nutritional level)

prepartus: before contractions

partus: contractions and birth

postpartus: after umbilical cord severed and placenta is ejected

1. mimicking nature
2. behavioral needs (beyond basic needs)
3. information primacy (working for food even when it can be available work free)
4. control/behavioral contingency (probibility that certain outcome will occur in response to given behavior-acquisition of control)

are some more necessary than others?

if animals are motivated to perform activities in the absence of external stimuli (vaccumm activities) can we conclude that their needs are being met?

yes

in meta-analysis of 23 published enrichment studies it was found that average stereotypies were reduced by over 50%

in no case was the stereotypy behavior eliminated

1. does the species really need the project
2. will the proposed project enhance animal welfare
3. safety concerns?
4. how many enrichment items necessary to avoid competition
5. if its food could it cause nutritional problems
6. can it be used to escape
7. is it relatively hygienic
8. how much money is needed