Visitors can affect and reduce the welfare of nonhuman animals. The Belo Horizonte Zoo, Brazil, had a group of greater rheas intended for reintroduction to the wild. Because this group received public visitation, evaluating its effect on the birds' behavior and welfare was important. The study conducted 60 hr of behavioral observations: 30 with, and 30 without, visitors in front of the birds' enclosure. The study, conducted April-December 2009, collected data using scan sampling with instantaneous recording of behavior every minute. The study collected data on public behavior, visitor density, and time spent observing the birds. More than 4,000 persons visited the birds' enclosure: 9.86 s average time spent. Public behaviors most expressed were walking-watching-talking and stopped-watching-talking; visitors or not, greater rheas' most expressed behaviors (inversed between treatments) were foraging and walking alert; defecating/urinating and other behaviors differed statistically between treatments. Walking alert was most expressed in the presence of visitors; defecating/urinating and other behaviors were most expressed in their absence. Greater rheas seemed to habituate to visitors. Birds' behaviors differed little in visitors' presence or absence.

Animals kept by zoos may express abnormal behaviours that are indicators of poor welfare. Environmental enrichment is a technique of providing items to animals that stimulate the expression of normal behaviours. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of providing simple environmental enrichment in the reduction of the expression of abnormal behaviour in captive‐born Greater rhea Rhea americana at Belo Horizonte Zoo, south‐eastern Brazil. As enrichment, fruit and vegetables were scatter fed to a group of seven birds from April to September 2009, and the behaviour of the birds was recorded using scan sampling with instantaneous recording of behaviour every 1 minute for 1 hour daily (90 hours of observation). The study was divided into three phases: baseline, enrichment and post‐enrichment. The abnormal behaviours ‘pacing’, ‘eating faeces’ and ‘escaping behaviour’ reduced during the enrichment phase, but only the first two behaviours differed significantly between the phases; ‘walking’ and ‘foraging’, both positive behaviours, increased during the enrichment phase. These results showed that the implementation of simple environmental enrichment can stimulate the Greater rhea to exhibit more natural behaviours and improve their welfare.

Distress can be defined as a biological response of an individual to long-term threats to its homeostasis and it should be avoided from an animal welfare perspective. High levels of stress hormones and the expression of abnormal behaviours are responses normally observed in distressed animals. Captive environments can provoke distress, especially when inappropriate stimuli are provided to the animals. The concomitant use of behavioural and non-invasive hormonal measures is a means to evaluate captive animal welfare. Environmental enrichment is a tool that can reduce distress and minimize the expression of abnormal behaviour in captive animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate greater rheas’ responses (behavioral and hormonal) to food-based enrichment. Three birds from the Belo Horizonte Zoo, Brazil were studied. The study was divided into three phases (baseline, enrichment and post-enrichment): fruits scattered around the birds’ enclosure were used as enrichment. Behaviour and faecal sampling were undertaken in all phases of the study. Abnormal behaviours and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM) levels showed significant reduction during the environmental enrichment phase, and a significative positive correlation between GCM production and abnormal pacing was observed. From the results of this study, we conclude that the use of food as environmental enrichment should be encouraged because of its positive effects on animal welfare. Besides, studies with larger groups of greater rheas, with individuals of both sexes, should also be encouraged to evaluate if the results found in this pilot study are consistent and can be generalized to the species.