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      Using Qualitative Behaviour Assessment to Investigate Human-Animal Relationships in Zoo-Housed Giraffes ( Giraffa camelopardalis)

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          Human-animal relationships can develop from repeated interactions between zoo animals and their keepers. Positive, neutral or negative interactions can result in positive, neutral or negative relationships. Qualitative behavior assessment (QBA) has been utilized as a method to assess emotional expression in animals, but this has yet to be applied to zoo-housed animals. This paper reports a small pilot study aimed at exploring the use of QBA to address human-animal relationships (HAR) in zoos. Three giraffes were video recorded during four different types of keeper-animal interaction producing 38 clips. Using QBA, 18 observers were instructed to describe and score the emotional expressions of the giraffes observed in the clips. In addition, keeper actions during the keeper-animal interactions were assigned positive and negative values by an independent marker, summarized into a final score characterizing their quality. Results indicate that positive keeper actions resulted in calm and confident giraffes with a willingness to interact, whereas negative interactions resulted in more anxious and startled giraffes who were more easily distracted. This suggests that the quality of interaction by keepers influenced the emotional expression of these giraffes, which may affect the giraffe-keeper relationship and have potential welfare implications.

          Abstract

          Human-Animal Relationships (HAR) in zoos develop from repeated interactions between animals and their caretakers. HAR have been shown to affect health and welfare in farm animals, but limited zoo-based studies exist. This study investigates the association between the qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) of emotional expression in giraffes and keeper action score in four types of keeper-animal interaction (KAI). Three giraffes generating 38 clips. QBA, using a free-choice profiling methodology, was applied instructing 18 observers to assess giraffe expressions shown in these clips. QBA scores were analysed using Generalized Procrustes Analysis. Keeper actions during each KAI event were rated by an independent marker, resulting in cumulative scores for keeper action quality. The association between QBA and the keeper action was analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlations. Two main QBA dimensions were identified explaining 59% of the variation between clips. There were significant effects of giraffe and KAI type on QBA dimension 2 (inquisitive/impatient—calm/distracted), and significant positive associations between keeper action quality rating and QBA dimensions 1 and 2, indicating that positive keeper actions resulted in calm and confident giraffes with a willingness to interact. This is the first successful application of QBA for empirically addressing HARs in zoos, however given the small sample size of giraffes in this study, it can be regarded as a pilot study only, and further research is needed to validate the use of QBA in this context.

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          Most cited references33

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          Interactions, Relationships and Social Structure

          R. HINDE (1976)
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            Assessing the human–animal relationship in farmed species: A critical review

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              Relationships between human-animal interactions and productivity of commercial dairy cows.

              This study examined the relationships between a number of stockperson and cow variables at 66 commercial dairy farms. Variables such as the attitudes and behavior of stockpeople toward their cows and the behavioral response to humans and productivity of cows were studied over one lactation. There were consistent and significant correlations between some of these stockperson and cow variables. For example, a positive attitude by stockpeople toward the behavior of dairy cows was negatively correlated with the number of forceful, negative, tactile interactions used by stockpeople in handling cows (r = -0.27, df = 127, P 0.05). Support for the existence of a negative fear-productivity relationship was the finding that the use of negative interactions by stockpeople was significantly and negatively correlated with milk yield, protein, and fat at the farm (r = -0.36, -0.35 and -0.33, respectively, df = 64, P < 0.01) and was significantly and positively correlated with milk cortisol concentrations at the farm (r = 0.34, df= 64, P < 0.01). Furthermore, the percentage of cows approaching within 3 m of an experimenter in a standard test was positively correlated with conception rate to the first insemination (r = 0.38, df = 46, P < 0.01). The significant correlations found in the present study between stockperson attitudes and behavior and cow behavior and productivity, although not evidence of causal relationships, indicate the possibility of targeting these human characteristics to reduce fear responses of dairy cows to humans and improve the cows' productivity.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Animals (Basel)
                Animals (Basel)
                animals
                Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI
                MDPI
                2076-2615
                21 June 2019
                June 2019
                : 9
                : 6
                : 381
                Affiliations
                [1 ]School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Southwell NG25 0QF, UK; Freisha.Patel@ 123456twycrosszoo.org
                [2 ]Animal and Veterinary Sciences Group, SRUC, Roslin Institute Building, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK; Francoise.Wemelsfelder@ 123456sruc.ac.uk
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence: Samantha.ward@ 123456ntu.ac.uk ; Tel.: +44-(0)115-848-5239
                [†]

                Current address: Twycross Zoo, East Midland Zoological Society, Burton Rd, Atherstone CV9 3PX, UK.

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5857-1071
                Article
                animals-09-00381
                10.3390/ani9060381
                6616931
                31234320
                31beb387-35b4-4450-8f2a-6b774cf841a9
                © 2019 by the authors.

                Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 08 May 2019
                : 18 June 2019
                Categories
                Article

                animal welfare,human-animal interaction,har,keeper-animal interactions,qba,free choice profiling

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