Dear Bergites,
Reminder - our first "proper" meeting is our external speaker, Mark Jones from Howlett's. Anyone who would like to join us for supper after the talk - please RSVP to P.Lee!
And we are looking for FOUR volunteers for speakers / discussion leaders on the following dates:
17th Oct, 31st Oct, 1st Nov, 21st Nov
PLEASE!!!!
Title: Hanging about at enclosures: Enrichment to prolong foraging AND visitor stay time!
Abstract:
Browse hangers have been in use at Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent for the last 18 months, with both gibbons and langurs. These devices employ a simple pulley system on the outside of the enclosure, designed to raise large pieces of browse or a mesh feeder containing smaller food items to an appropriate height, encouraging arboreal feeding. In addition, positioning them on the outside of the enclosure should prolong foraging time thus aiming to replicate the 70% of their day spent engaging in this behaviour in the wild. The final goal to the positioning of this device is that it brings the animals to the front of the enclosure in full public view increasing the visitor experience.
Anecdotally, these devices have achieved these goals, as evidenced by the food still being consumed after an hour or more of using the mesh boxes, and for up to 6hrs when holding browse. Talk attendance at the gibbons was also seen to increase from an average of 3.7 people to 25.9 people when the device was in use. In order to keep enrichment programmes effective and constantly developing however, it is important to assess how successful devices have been in order to maximise long-term use. As time for both keepers and educators is extremely limited, direct data collection was not possible. One suggestion to mediate this problem was the use of time-lapse cameras as an alternative method of collecting a large amount of data, which is quick and easy to analyse.
This study was therefore assessed the use of one of the hangers currently mounted on an enclosure housing a family group of 2.2 Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch,) and the effect this has on visitor numbers at the enclosure. Two time-lapse cameras were used, with one pointing at the enclosure to record at 30sec intervals the presence and number of gibbons. The second camera was pointed at the public fence to record visitor numbers at the same 30sec interval. Statistical analysis compared the day the mesh box hanger was in use to the day before, in order to keep temperature and other variables as constant as possible. This presentation will report the results of this study and discuss the use of this type of data collection method for future projects.
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The University of Stirling is ranked in the top 50 in the world in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 table, which ranks the world's best 100 universities under 50 years old.
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland,
number SC 011159.
Dear BERG folks,
There is an interesting meeting on enhancing zoo animal welfare coming up at Blair Drummond safari park, as was noted on the BERG events calendar.
They are offering a special daily rate of £45 in the hope that this might appeal to students/staff who can’t make the whole event.
The schedule of speakers and activities is available at:
http://www.blairdrummond.com/events.html
Best wishes
Phyllis
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The University of Stirling is ranked in the top 50 in the world in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 table, which ranks the world's best 100 universities under 50 years old.
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland,
number SC 011159.
Dear all,
I am trying to build a programme for this semester so am putting out the call a) for possible speakers (we already have two) and b) for new names for the mailing list.
Here is the schedule so far; titles will be provided soon
26-Sep
Introductory meeting - all join for an informal discussion +wine of BERG and UFAW
03-Oct
External Speaker: Mark Jones (Howletts) Gorilla welfare
10-Oct
17-Oct
24-Oct
Mid semester: NO BERG (captive welfare meetings in Edinburgh and Blair Drummond)
31-Oct
01-Nov
07-Nov
External Speaker: Alex Jones
14-Nov
21-Nov
28-Nov
Best
Phyllis
Phyllis C. Lee
Professor of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
School of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA
UK
Direct line: +44 (0)1786 467656
phyllis.lee(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:phyllis.lee@stir.ac.uk>
--
The University of Stirling is ranked in the top 50 in the world in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 table, which ranks the world's best 100 universities under 50 years old.
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland,
number SC 011159.
Dear all,
BERG seminars (Wednesdays 5:30 - 6:30, Psychology Seminar Room) will start on Wed 26th Sept with an informal meeting (with wine) to chat about our aims, goals, funding from UFAW, and possible topics / speakers for the coming semester.
Please let me know if you would like to give a talk, or you can suggest an excellent victim for the coming semester. ALL SLOTS are available at the moment.
And if any PGs would like to raise a more general discussion topic relevant to their analysis or data collection (e.g. stats or papers that they would like to discuss), let's go for it.
Please also forward this message on to those others who may be interested but are not yet on the list. We will the new MSc and PhD students when they arrive.
Best
P
Phyllis C. Lee
Professor of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
School of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling
Stirling FK9 4LA
UK
Direct line: +44 (0)1786 467656
phyllis.lee(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:phyllis.lee@stir.ac.uk>
--
The University of Stirling is ranked in the top 50 in the world in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 table, which ranks the world's best 100 universities under 50 years old.
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland,
number SC 011159.
