Animal needs: need to exhibit normal behaviour

Week 7

Why is the expression of normal behaviour important?

Back: It is a fundamental component of animal welfare

Distinguish between the categories of behaviour shown by managed animals

• Normal behaviour: Patterns shown by members of the species in conditions allowing a full range of behaviour. (Important for their health, survival and functioning in current environment)

• Abnormal behaviour: Behaviour that differs in pattern, frequency, or context from normal.

• Pathological behaviours: Clinical behavioural disorders, often considered mental health disorders rather than simple problems.

• Natural behaviour: Behaviours animals express in the wild.

• Unnatural behaviour:

What can be proposed to improve welfare and facilitate normal behaviour in managed animals?

Management strategies, environmental enrichment, and appropriate feeding practices

What are the Five Needs outlined in Section 9(2)(a-e) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006?

1. Need for a suitable environment

2. Need for a suitable diet

3. Need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns

4. Any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals

5. Need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury, and disease

What is the definition of behavioural needs

Highly motivated behaviours, essential to a species’ survival and reproduction in their ancestral and current wild-ranging environments.

What is the difference between appetitive and consummatory behaviour

• Appetitive behaviour: The flexible, searching phase that brings an organism into contact with a goal (e.g., searching/hunting).

• Consummatory behaviour: The final, stereotyped phase that occurs after the goal is reached (e.g., eating the food).

Why is the appetitive phase critical for animal welfare in captivity?

Animals are often strongly motivated by the performance of the appetitive (seeking) phase itself, not just the completion of the consummatory goal.

What are the two emotional valences of normal behaviours and their associated neurochemicals/hormones?

• Positive emotional valence: Rewarding behaviours (e.g., exploration, socialising, play, finding food, self maintenance) involving dopamine.

• Negative emotional valence: Survival behaviours keeping animals safe (e.g., fleeing, defence, pain response, aggression) involving cortisol.

What is the definition of abnormal / aberrant behaviours?

Behaviour that differs in pattern, frequency or context from that which is shown by members of the species in conditions that allow a full range of behaviour.

What are stereotypic behaviours and Abnormal Repetitive Behaviours?

• Historically/Stereotypic: Repetitive, unvarying, and seemingly functionless behaviour patterns

• Modern view/ Abnormal: Repetitive behaviours induced by frustration, repeated attempts to cope, or central nervous system dysfunction

In the gerbil study, what solved the stereotypic glass-scratching/digging behaviour?

Providing a safe tunnel to rest in (fulfilling consummatory needs for shelter/safety), whereas just providing sand to dig in did not stop the stereotyping.

What causes stereotypical pacing in large captive carnivores like cheetahs?

It is frequently linked to frustration of highly motivated appetitive behaviors in the 'seeking system' (such as hunting), rather than lack of food.

What did Harlow's maternal deprivation studies on Rhesus macaques demonstrate?

Infant monkeys preferred a comfortable cloth-covered surrogate mother over a wire structure that provided milk, highlighting deep social and tactile needs. Social isolation led to severe psychopathology

What are the three main categories of stressors in captive settings?

1. Environmental stressors: Sounds, odours, lights, thermal/tactile experiences.

2. Social stressors: Intra/interspecific grouping issues, forced proximity to humans.

3. Resources / confinement specific stressors: Restricted space, lack of retreat, restricted foraging, or routine husbandry.

What is the difference between stress and distress in animals?

• Stress: Animals can cope using bodily reserves with negligible biological cost if short-lived.

• Distress: Chronic stress where challenges exceed capacity; resources are diverted away from normal biological functioning, leading to deteriorated welfare.

What drives regulation of food intake and feeding behaviour?

Driven by internal factors (homeostasis, low blood glucose, dehydration) and external factors (food availability, temperature) to maintain adaptive fitness.

Why are species like parrots, browsing ungulates, and caged pigs at higher risk of abnormal behaviours?

Because captive feeding setups are too predictable, lack natural manipulation/foraging challenges, or rely on concentrated meals rather than ad libitum browsing/foraging

Adaptive fitness

Behaviour must support the intake of energy and correct nutrients for staying alive and reproduction.

Internal factors driving food ingestion e.g. dehydration, low
blood glucose, reproductive state
External factors driving food ingestion e.g. environmental
temperature, food availability