Volume 151, February 2014, Pages 117–127
Abstract
Two
studies were carried out on the effect of visitors on mixed-breed
goats, llama, and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs housed in a petting zoo
display within a safari park. In the first study we investigated the
effect of the presence and density of visitors on the animals’ behaviour
and in the second, the effect of animal grooming by the visitors. We
hypothesised that the animals’ behaviour would be negatively affected by
presence of visitors compared to periods of their absence, but this
hypothesis was not fully supported by the data. Goat and llama behaviour
was unaffected by the presence of the public, while the pigs showed
decreased inactivity and social behaviour, both affiliative and
aggressive, when visitors were present.
All three
study species exhibited increased levels of non-aggressive interaction
with the public when visitor density was higher but the level of
avoidance or aggression towards visitors was not dependent on density.
The goats were less often in physical contact with other goats and less
likely to be within proximity of a non-conspecific when visitor numbers
were high, whereas the pigs showed decreased feeding, a behaviour that
constituted a majority of their activity budget. Species differences
were observed in the proportion of samples the study groups interacted
in a non-aggressive manner with visitors, goats being most likely and
llama the least likely to engage in this behaviour. In the second study
visitors were provided with a grooming tool and asked to groom the
animals, but no significant behavioural change was observed in either
goats or pigs as a result. Visitors groomed goats, but not pigs, more
than they interacted with them in non-grooming interactions, and goats,
but not pigs, responded less to grooming as visitor density increased.
Although
significant behavioural changes in all three study species were
associated with either visitor presence or density, the low levels of
avoidance of visitors, visitor-directed aggression, or animal-directed
aggression, suggest the welfare of the study animals was not profoundly
impacted by visitor-related stimuli. Furthermore, there was no evidence
that grooming by the public was enriching for the animals. The species
differences reported here do suggest, however, that Vietnamese
pot-bellied pigs and llama are more sensitive to visitor pressure than
goats and particular attention to their welfare may be necessary when
they are housed in petting zoo displays.
Keywords
- Visitor effect;
- Petting zoo;
- Ungulate;
- Animal welfare;
- Enrichment;
- Human–animal interaction
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+44 1786 467674; fax: +44 1786 467641.
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