Prior exposure to capture heightens the corticosterone and behavioural responses of little penguins (<i>Eudyptula minor</i>) to acute stress

Carroll, Gemma; Turner, E. C.; Dann, Peter; Harcourt, Robert

doi:10.1093/conphys/cov061

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…This was likely the result of the tourism operation at the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony implementing strategies to regulate human disturbances such as reduced noise, light and movement from visitors and restricted visitor viewing areas; effects that are consistent with past research (Dann 1992;Rogers et al 1995;Shaughnessy and Briggs 2009;Wiebkin 2011;Agnew and Houston 2020). Also, this research adds to the growing evidence that little penguins, found at different locations, may respond to visitors in a similar manner if the nature of visitor contact is the same (Klomp et al 1991;Weerheim et al 2003;Giling et al 2008;Carroll et al 2016). However, penguin responses may vary as a result of characteristics of the environment differing at each location which may influence the nature of visitor contact.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Effects of the presence of zoo visitors on zoo-housed little penguins (Eudyptula minor)

Chiew

Butler

Fanson

et al. 2021

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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Little penguins (Eudyptula minor), or Kororā in Māori, show variation in their behavioural responses towards zoo visitors in Australian zoos. We experimentally examined the effects of visitor presence on the behaviour and stress physiology of little penguins at Wellington Zoo, New Zealand. The two treatments were: (1) Visitor presencethe exhibit was open to visitors; and (2) Visitor absencethe exhibit was closed to visitors. We found that when the exhibit was closed to visitors, the percentage of penguins observed close to the visitor viewing pier increased from about 1% to 9%, but there was little effect on other behaviours and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations. This result of increased avoidance of the visitor viewing pier when the exhibit was open to visitors suggests close visitor contact, particularly from above, may be fear-provoking for these penguins. We conclude that designing enclosures to allow close viewing proximity of visitors, such as visitors looming over the pool, may be futile in improving visitor experience, since this species of penguins is likely to avoid these types of viewing areas when visitors are present. Visitors positioned close to and above penguins may be particularly problematic since visitors in this position may be perceived as threatening.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Effects of the presence of zoo visitors on zoo-housed little penguins (Eudyptula minor)

Chiew

Butler

Fanson

et al. 2021

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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“…We minimized handling time and in most cases total time spent at a nest including deployment and retrieval of devices was less than 8 min. To reduce stress caused by repeated handling [27], penguin pairs were given a respite from tracking for 5 -7 days in the middle of sampling, during which time the nest was not visited. Throughout the study the mass of chicks and adults were monitored, and tracking of an individual ceased if it lost more than 15% body mass over the study period (average mass change less than 10%), dropped below 900 g or changed its nest attendance patterns (n ¼ 2 individuals excluded during the study).…”

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Penguin Trackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent prey capture experience and dynamic habitat quality mediate short-term foraging site fidelity in a seabird

et al. 2018

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Foraging site fidelity allows animals to increase their efficiency by returning to profitable feeding areas. However, the mechanisms underpinning why animals 'stay' or 'switch' sites have rarely been investigated. Here, we explore how habitat quality and prior prey capture experience influence short-term site fidelity by the little penguin (). Using 88 consecutive foraging trips by 20 brooding penguins, we found that site fidelity was higher after foraging trips where environmental conditions were favourable, and after trips where prey capture success was high. When penguins exhibited lower site fidelity, the number of prey captures relative to the previous trip increased, suggesting that switches in foraging location were an adaptive strategy in response to low prey capture rates. Penguins foraged closer to where other penguins foraged on the same day than they did to the location of their own previous foraging site, and caught more prey when they foraged close together. This suggests that penguins aggregated flexibly when prey was abundant and accessible. Our results illustrate how foraging predators can integrate information about prior experience with contemporary information such as social cues. This gives insight into how animals combine information adaptively to exploit changing prey distribution in a dynamic environment.

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“…Handling time was kept to a minimum, and in most cases was <5 min for both deployment and retrieval of devices. Penguins during this study were only handled twice, once for deployment and once for removal of devices to minimise stress associated with handling (Carroll et al 2016b). All animal research protocols were carried out in accordance with guidelines approved by the Macquarie University Animal Ethics Committee (Animal Research Authority 2014/057).…”

Section: P E N G U I N T R a C K I N Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchical influences of prey distribution on patterns of prey capture by a marine predator

et al. 2017

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Summary Prey distribution acts at multiple spatial scales to influence foraging success by predators. The overall distribution of prey may shape foraging ranges, the distance between patches may influence the ability of predators to detect and move between profitable areas, and individual patch characteristics may affect prey capture efficiency. In this study, we assessed relationships between spatially explicit patterns of prey capture by a central place forager, the little penguin (using GPS tracking and accelerometry), and the distribution of aggregations of potential forage fish prey (using boat‐based active acoustics) in eastern Australia. We used complementary resource selection functions to estimate the distribution of both prey captures and aggregations across the study area, based on a suite of habitat characteristics. We found that 99% of prey captures by penguins occurred in the top 20 m of the water column. The estimated distribution of prey captures across the study area was similar to the distribution of aggregations above 20 m depth, indicating that penguins effectively matched the local distribution of their prey. The distances between consecutive prey captures followed a bimodal distribution, with means of 8·1 ± 2·2 and 57·4 ± 1·7 m. Based on the length of aggregations and the distances separating aggregations along survey transects, this implies that foraging behaviour occurs on multiple spatial scales corresponding to within‐patch and between‐patch movements respectively. Morphological characteristics of aggregations above 20 m depth were important for explaining variance in the number of prey caught by penguins in an area, with penguins catching more prey where aggregations were relatively dense, compact and shallow. These results reveal spatially explicit patterns of prey capture, and provide a framework for understanding how features of prey distribution influence prey intake by predators in patchy environments. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12873/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Prior exposure to capture heightens the corticosterone and behavioural responses of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) to acute stress

Cited by 25 publications

References 81 publications

Effects of the presence of zoo visitors on zoo-housed little penguins (Eudyptula minor)

Effects of the presence of zoo visitors on zoo-housed little penguins (Eudyptula minor)

Recent prey capture experience and dynamic habitat quality mediate short-term foraging site fidelity in a seabird

Hierarchical influences of prey distribution on patterns of prey capture by a marine predator

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