The World Organisation for Animal Health (2020) describe welfare as “ the physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and dies “ and in 1965 the guiding principles of welfare were created called the ‘Five Freedoms’ which are :
- freedom from hunger, malnutrition and thirst.
- freedom from fear and distress.
- freedom from heat stress or physical discomfort.
- freedom from pain, injury and disease; and
- freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.
It is in this report that the fifth freedom, freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour is discussed in relation to the behaviour of captive tigers. Big cats are used in zoos and institutions around the globe, however having these animals on display and protecting their welfare can be challenging. One of the most known welfare issues of concern affecting big cats in captivity is that of stereotypic behaviour (Mohapatra et al. 2014). Stereotypic behaviour can be described as repetitive, invariant and have no obvious goal or function (Mason 1991).
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The most common form of stereotypic behaviour observed in big cats is that of pacing, where the animal walks back and forth on the same path in their enclosure. Understanding why pacing in felids occurs has not fully been established, however a few possibilities exist that include hunting behaviours, reducing stress or coping mechanism, natural exploratory / territorial behaviour, non-existent retreats or hides and the ability to see conspecifics.
Research has suggested that the time spent pacing in captive animals is relevant to the distance travelled by their wild counterparts (Breton & Barrot 2014). This is specifically true for the Tiger (Panthera tigris), who in the wild can travel 5 - 30km a day in search of food, with it increasing to 50 - 60km in unique situations.
A study by Biolatti et al. (2016) assessed the welfare of seven captive tigers in four zoological gardens. The research created an ethogram and some behaviours were labelled as diminished welfare indicators and the others enhanced welfare indicators. The results showed that indicators of diminished welfare where observed 0.69% and that 0.43% of this was for pacing alone. Enhanced welfare was seen for 11.74% of the time and the research found that the presence of a pool provided enhanced welfare significantly over other variables.
Research by Vaz et al. (2017) looked at stereotypic behaviour and levels of faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM) in 41 Royal Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) and 21 Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca). The tiger’s incidence of stereo typic behaviour during daylight was 12% compared to 7% of the leopard. Of the 41 tigers 83% showed stereotypic behaviour with 62% for the leopards. The FCM levels showed that tigers had slightly less stress compared to the leopards. The researchers also used various biological and environmental factors in their data analysis and found that increased enclosure size, environmental enrichment, positive keeper attitude and managing social conspecific interactions had a positive effect and decrease in stereotypic behaviour. When the FCM levels where analysed against context dependant factors, the results showed increased enclosure size had a significant effect of reducing these levels, but also that the healthiest tigers had the highest levels of FCM. No relationship was found between stereotypic behaviour and FCM levels, even though some research has suggested that these types of behaviour cause stress.
Evidence suggests that if a tiger’s enclosure is more natural and complex, stereotypic pacing is reduced and exploratory behaviours are increased. Researchers suggest the largest enclosure possible for tigers with it containing natural substrate and vegetation, pools, shade, resting areas and varied enrichment stimuli. It is here that research on 38 tigers in seven French zoological institutions was undertaken in 2012 and wanted to compare enclosure size to the distance covered and distanced paced by captive tigers. Their results found a positive correlation between total distance covered and enclosure size, with those animals being housed in the largest enclosure having the highest total distance covered. Meanwhile there was a negative correlation between enclosure size and total distance paced with those animals residing in the smallest enclosure having the highest total distance paced. The authors suggest that their results clearly show that by providing larger enclosures, pacing is reduced, and any institution should cater for this or provide extra enrichment and stimulation if being kept in smaller areas.
There have been many studies on stereotypic pacing with varied results. A study done on activity pattern and stereotypic behaviour by Mohapatra et al. (2014) looked at 19 captive tigers in Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, India using instantaneous sampling, and found a 23% incidence of pacing during the day. While 15 tigers in nine European zoos had a range from 4.67 to 23.91% and an enrichment feeding experiment produced a pacing level of 60%. It is not only zoological institutions that house captive tigers but today there are still some circuses around the world that use them for entertainment. Krawczel et al. (2005) looked at stereotypic pacing behaviour in captive circus tigers and found that this behaviour was most significant before a show and with subsequent shows.
It can be possible to determine the cause of pacing and alter management or husbandry to reduce this stereotypic behaviour. Miller et al. (2008) looked at stereotypic pacing behaviour and the effect of obstructing the view of neighbouring individuals in six captive tigers. The tigers were housed together when in their off-exhibit enclosure, however during the zoo open times the group was split into two groups and two separate enclosures neighbouring each other. The results showed that by obstructing the view, the levels of stereotypic pacing where reduced significantly, suggesting that being able to view conspecifics can influence this behaviour (Miller et al. 2008). The research in this case suggested the higher incidence of pacing may be caused by the ability to see the other tigers but unable to have affiliative or agnostic behaviours with their conspecifics.
Webster & Universities Federation for Animal (2005) defines animal husbandry as “animal science enriched by tender loving care” and those who manage animals have a responsibility by promoting the welfare of animals with the use of good husbandry. Whether this is on a farm, in a zoo or a nature reserve, husbandry can be applied to not only the animals but also the living environment where it includes proper consideration and function of economic and scientific principles. One way of improving the welfare of zoo animals is through enrichment and a study by Sunquist (2010) found that by using frozen fish and spices as an enrichment item, it reduced the stereotypic behaviours by 26 and 21% respectively.
Animals in zoos are most of the time put on exhibit and how animals react or cope with this is a topic of welfare and research also. In 2011 and 2012 a study was done on the visitor effect on captive felids in two Spanish zoos. Five species were observed, Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica), Jaguar (Panthera onca), Bobcat (Lynx rufus), Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx). The results showed a negative association with welfare through behavioural changes on all species except the jaguar. They found their findings to be like other authors who suggested these behavioural changes can be linked to chronic stress.
Not only do animal institutions need to care for the welfare of their animals, but if they are open to the public then how people view these animals can potentially affect the economics and rapport of said institutions. Research from Miller (2012) looked specifically at the visitor reaction to stereotypic pacing behaviour. The research was based on a survey given to people who were visiting San Diego zoo safari park and asked to watch one of two videos, either viewing a tiger pacing or a control video of a tiger resting, both in a zoo. The results showed that people who watched the tiger pacing had a reduced perception on the level of the animal’s welfare, but also that they were less likely to support institutions where these animals were found.
Designing an experiment on zoo animals can be difficult as firstly it needs to be decided if you are to undertake a single zoo or multi-zoo study. Single site studies can show how housing or husbandry can affect behaviour in that enclosure and are usually easy, quick and cheap to undertake. The downfall in single site studies is usually small sample sizes and if there are sub-groups such as sex and age this can be reduced even further. Single site studies are also limited in that they do not relate to other animals in other enclosures or zoos (Hosey et al. 2013).
It is with the multi-zoo approach that species can be compared across multiple zoos and how changing housing and husbandry can be affected . Sample size is usually increased with this method and it allows for the testing of different variables, and it’s the only way to look at prevalence of a phenomena or observe if something is unusual or not in a zoo (Hosey et al. 2013).The drawback with multi-zoo research is that it generally requires more resources so it may not be practical or financial, and coordinating research at multiple zoos can be frustrating and time consuming).
To conduct an experiment to determine if adding an enrichment item reduces the level of stereotypic behaviour in captive tigers, a multi-zoo study would be the best approach. Firstly, a survey would need to be designed that would be sent to multiple zoos that house tigers and ask questions related to stereotypic behaviour but also if and what enrichment items the zoos currently use. The survey would also ask if the zoos would be willing to have a researcher observe the tigers to gain a prevalence level of stereotypic behaviour, then allow the use of a new enrichment item and follow up this with post observations to determine if the level of stereotypic behaviour was reduced. After surveying all the zoos, the researchers would need to look at the list of current enrichment items and come up with a new enrichment idea as a standard for all tigers.
There are many observational methods to observe behaviour such as focal -sampling, all occurrence, sequence, one-zero and instantaneous scan sampling. This study would follow similar methods to Mohapatra et al. (2014) that looked at activity pattern and stereotypic behaviour. Each zoo may have different opening and closing hours; however, observation would take place from opening till closing at each location by the same observer. Observations would take place of the tigers in their on-exhibit enclosure. The study would collect the tiger’s activity pattern and incidence of stereotypic behaviour.
To do this an ethogram of behaviours would need to be designed and using research from Stanton et al. (2015) who created a standardised ethogram for Felidae would be used to create one for this study. Each zoo and their tigers would be observed for three consecutive days, from opening till closing time using instantaneous behaviour sampling at two-minute intervals. If the animal is out of sight, this data would not be used in analysis. Each day data would be analysed and converted to frequency percentages of behaviour. After the three days of observation, the zoos staff would implement the enrichment item into the tigers exhibit the following day for the next three days. The observer would then collect data for these three days the same as the previous. Both age and sex would also be collected and used as a variable in the results.
Appropriate software would be used to analyse the data from the first three days with the three days where the enrichment item was added. This would allow frequency of daily behaviours to be compared and determine if the addition of a new enrichment item helped in reducing the level of stereotypic behaviour. If the results are positive, then the idea of a new enrichment idea could be used by all the zoos in the study on a more regular basis and even suggested for other zoos around the world. If the results showed no significant decrease in stereotypic behaviour from the new enrichment idea, this would appear troubling however it would still be applicable as feedback for future research. The experiment could then be done again on another enrichment item; however, this would come down to researcher time and effort as well as coordination with the zoos.
There is the possibility that even with positive results that some zoos may forgo future use of the new enrichment idea, with it coming down to cost and practicability. The benefit of attempting an enrichment study is not only an attempt at reducing stereotypic behaviour, but it also can increase animal activity and behaviour. Research has shown that it is not only behaviour that should be measured, and that reproduction, longevity and health also contribute to an animal’s psychological welfare. An example of this is that in this hypothetical experimental design, the results may show varied levels of reduced pacing behaviour between tigers and certain animals may be overlooked if it is not as significant as others, yet that individuals welfare is still important.
It is here that studies on enrichment and behaviour should combine this with a physiological variable such as cortisol to measure the level of stress and that future research on animal behaviour have more consistency between designs. If using instantaneous sampling methods then time intervals should be appropriate for the number of animals being observed, such as 30 seconds to one minute intervals for a single animal, one minute for two to four animals and two to three minutes for more than five animals. It is also recommended that an ethogram standard created specifically for tigers so that data collection is more consistent and defined.
In conclusion , tigers will be kept in zoos for a time to come as the natural world gets smaller and illegal activities such as poaching continue, but these institutions also have a level of trust and must take care of these animals and provide the best welfare available. This report shows that stereotypic behaviour in captive tigers is varied all over the world but also that there are ways to reduce this such as using enrichment, allowing the animals to exhibit more natural behaviours. Both animal behaviour and welfare should be of top priority for all animal institutions and be constantly looking at ways of improving the level of welfare provided.
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