Effects of Nearby Construction Work on the Behavior of Asiatic Lions (Panthera leo persica)

Abstract

In order to be successful and have high standards of animal welfare, modern zoos strive to regularly modify, improve, and build animal enclosures and visitor areas. However, these periods of development could result in temporary durations of sub-optimal welfare for animals housed nearby. In this study, we monitored the behavior of three Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) prior to, during, and following a period of construction on a nearby building. Our results provide evidence that welfare may have been temporarily reduced during the construction period. Compared to the pre-construction period, the male exhibited an increase in pacing behavior and all three lions reduced the time they spent resting. We infer that the most significant negative stimulus related to the construction was sound and/or ground vibrations, as a physical barrier ruled out stress from visual stimuli. The behavioral response to the construction work was relatively short-lived and no long-term changes were observed one year on. This research highlights the importance of measuring animal behavior around events outside routine husbandry, and considering animal welfare on an individual basis. Finally, this work adds to the body of literature surrounding the impacts of construction on animal wellbeing and outlines some suggestions for potential mitigation.

From Soundwave to Soundscape: A Guide to Acoustic Research in Captive Animal Environments

“…Construction is difficult to place as either a chronic or acute sound event; it can be fairly sporadic and unpredictable or occur regularly for several weeks or months. Evidence for the effect of construction sound in zoos has been relatively well-reported, but uses a variety of acoustic methods [e.g., ( 109 , 111 – 113 ). In one zoo, sound contour maps for each enclosure were created, taking into account the location of speakers (playing back experimental construction sound), topography, and ear height which could then be used to help monitor actual construction sound ( 109 ).…”

Dither: A unifying model of the effects of visitor numbers on zoo animal behavior

“…Previous work in zoo animals has suggested anxiety-like behaviors increase and comfort behaviors decrease with higher numbers of visitor presence (Davison et al, 2021;Williams et al, 2021). The original description of the dither effect suggests animals may exhibit higher levels of anxiety-like behaviors with low-levels of background stimuli, and that comfortable behaviors may increase once additional stimuli (i.e.…”

“…Examining the impacts of environmental stimuli on animals under human care has been an area of research interest over the last several decades. Increasingly, researchers are seeking to understand the impacts of lighting conditions (Buchanan-Smith & Badihi, 2012;Liu et al, 2017;Patel et al, 2016), ambient noise (Owen et al, 2014;Orban et al, 2017), and other possibly disruptive factors (Jakob-Hoff et al, 2019;Powell et al, 2006;Williams et al, 2021) on animal behavior or physiological stress measures. More recently, studies have expanded to other novel and potentially anxiety-inducing occurrences that combine several of these putatively disruptive factors (e.g., airshows: Cronin et al, 2018; late night visitor events: Bastian et al, 2020;Proctor & Smurl, 2020; walk-through exhibits: Woolway & Goodenough, 2017).…”

Activity Budget Comparisons Using Long-Term Observations of a Group of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) under Human Care: Implications for Animal Welfare

“…Several case studies have highlighted the importance of behavioral assessments during environmental disturbance periods for measuring how animals respond to these changes and evaluating how animal welfare is impacted at the individual level [27,[95][96][97].…”

“…Most behavioral studies were conducted with wild populations, whose behavior is mainly influenced by foraging, prey availability, or predator avoidance [23]. In zoos and aquaria, however, behavior is mostly influenced by other factors, such as daily husbandry routines [24,25], social parameters [26], external disturbances [27], enrichment [28][29][30], human-animal interactions [31], the presence of visitors [32], and the animals' personalities [33][34][35][36].…”