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Poster De Conférence Année : 2014

Assessing video presentations as environmental enrichment for laboratory birds

Isabelle George
Laurence Henry
Hugo Cousillas
Martine Hausberger

Résumé

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of video presentations of natural landscapes on European starlings’ (Sturnus vulgaris) stereotypic behaviours (SBs) and other abnormal repetitive behaviours (ARBs) and to evaluate the impact of past experience by comparing wild-caught and hand-reared starlings’ reactions. Ten wild-caught and five hand-reared starlings were presented 1-hour videos of landscapes twice a day for five successive days, while a control group of eight wild-caught and four hand-reared starlings was presented a grey screen for the same amount of time. The analysis of the starlings’ behaviour revealed that the video presentations of landscapes appeared to have a positive but limited and experience-dependent effect on starlings’ SBs and other ARBs compared to the controls. Indeed, whereas video presentations seemed to remedy high rates of SBs and ARBs in highly stereotyped wild-caught starlings, they did not appear to be enriching enough to prevent the emergence or the development of SBs and ARBs in slightly stereotyped wild-caught starlings or hand-reared starlings. They even appeared to promote a particular type of SB (somersaulting) that is thought to be linked to escape motivation. The fact that this effect was observed in hand-reared starlings suggests that videos of landscapes could elicit motivation to escape even in birds that never experienced outdoor life. These results highlight the importance of investigating stereotypic behaviour both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to provide crucial clues on animal welfare.
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Dates et versions

hal-01320748 , version 1 (24-05-2016)

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  • HAL Id : hal-01320748 , version 1

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Isabelle George, Marion Coulon, Laurence Henry, Audrey Perret, Hugo Cousillas, et al.. Assessing video presentations as environmental enrichment for laboratory birds. Recent advances in animal welfare science IV: UFAW Animal Welfare Conference, Jun 2014, York, France. ⟨hal-01320748⟩
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