Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Cheetahs in the wild are declining due to hunting, lack of prey, exploitation of habitats and loss of cubs to predators. Those are the main reasons to why cheetahs are kept in captivity today for conservation. Many cheetahs kept in captivity are seen pacing – a behaviour that arise when the animal is prohibited from performing natural behaviours. It is believed to being attributed to a lack of stimulation in the environment where they are being held.

In this study four cheetahs in two large zoos, Parken Zoo and Borås Djurpark, have been observed and their behaviours were recorded during six days. The method used was focal animal sampling with a continuous registration. The aim was to investigate the distribution of the cheetah’s behaviours, if there was a difference in the frequency of walking in the two zoos and to find out if enrichment influenced the prevalence of walking.

The results show that the majority of behaviours performed by these cheetahs were “Walk” and “Stand/sit”. There was a difference in the frequency of walking between the zoos, where the cheetahs at Parken Zoo did 55 percent of the total frequency of recorded walking. The cheetahs at Borås Djurpark performed a higher frequency of walking during the two observation sessions in the afternoon while the cheetahs at Parken Zoo distributed the walking more evenly over the four observation periods. Enrichment may have had an effect on the walking in this study. There was a decrease in walking during the first hour when the cheetahs were provided enrichment in form of food, while there was an increase in walking during the first hour of providing odour enrichment.

In summary this study indicates that enrichment can be used for activation and mental stimulation and that it can contribute to prevent pacing. The study was performed during a short period of time on only a few individuals, to get a representative sample a larger study will have to be made.