Rehabilitation of Marine Turtles and Welfare Improvement by Application of Environmental Enrichment Strategies

Abstract

Sea turtles perform various ecological services in several marine environments and are considered architects of the marine landscape. At present, they are endangered species due to anthropogenic threats, pollution and degradation of marine habitats. These impacts make it urgent to increase protection and conservation efforts. Protective actions include the rescue and rehabilitation of injured individuals as a result of their interactions with humans and other threats. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a series of techniques and methods aimed to improve the welfare of animals in captivity and/or under rehabilitation. It uses external stimuli to enhance their psychological and physiological wellbeing to promote natural abilities and behaviors. These may increase the survival chances of rehabilitated animals upon release in the wild. This review presents data of studies where EE has been applied during the rehabilitation processes of different species of sea turtles, and its effect on welfare improvement during captivity/rehabilitation and on survival after release into nature. Technologies such as satellite tags are an important means to determine rehabilitation success and survival of injured individuals from endangered species after release into the wild, as they allow tracking and monitoring of such individuals, and determine their location in areas used by their natural populations for feeding or breeding.

Harnessing Technology for Environmental Method: Cultivating High Order Thinking Skills for Sustainable Maritime Development Knowledge

“…This study employs a quantitative research approach to explore the potential and impact of implementing High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)-based learning on the enhancement of maritime environmental awareness among students in the city of Bandung. The research procedures in this study encompass the following steps: (1) examining and describing phenomena related to the elevation of maritime awareness in Indonesia and the necessity to reinforce student learning in order to cultivate such awareness based on HOTS; (2) determining the study's design and methodology; (3) conducting a literature review, distributing questionnaires, and conducting interviews; (4) processing data and presenting study findings; (5) analyzing and interpreting study findings; and (6) reporting the study results.…”

“…This progress has significantly enhanced human capacities to explore and exploit the vast potential of the seas. However, concurrently, the sustainability of the maritime environment has emerged as an increasingly pressing concern in academic discourse [3]- [5]. The intricately interconnected challenges of climate change, pollution, habitat degradation, and excessive exploitation of marine resources pose grave threats to the continuity and resilience of marine ecosystems, as well as to the overall well-being of human societies that depend on these ecosystems for sustenance and livelihood.…”

Global Overview of Environmental Enrichment Studies: What Has Been Done and Future Directions

“…Environmental enrichment (EE) is a management principle aimed at meeting the needs of the animal kept under human care, providing psychological and physiological well-being [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ], and identifying and providing environmental stimuli necessary for animal well-being [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Various studies have shown that an enriched environment offers greater behavioural opportunities for the animal, making its behavioural repertoire more indicative of good welfare [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Never be mute about bird welfare: Swanning around with environmental enrichment

“…Individual animals housed in conservation projects benefit from appropriate use of EE to develop important behavioral skills that facilitate a successful life in the wild (Rabin, 2003; Reading et al, 2013). For wild individuals spending time in captivity within a wildlife rescue center (Escobedo‐Bonilla et al, 2022; Monreal‐Pawlowsky et al, 2017) or for juvenile life stages where behavioral flexibility and diversity is influenced by environmental and social interaction (Hyvärinen & Rodewald, 2013), appropriate use of EE can preserve or develop important survival skills. As animals in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centers are destined to be returned to the wild (if deemed fit and healthy), the performance of adaptive behaviors that ensure survival needs to continue during the animal's stay in captivity.…”