Stereotypic Animal Behaviour: Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare

by Georgia Mason, Jeffrey Rushen

Overview

This second edition is a complete re-write of the 1st edition published in 1993 (editors Lawrence and Rushen). It reflects many recent advances, bringing together all new chapters and over 30 contributors. Abnormal behaviour patterns, from the jumping and somersaulting of caged laboratory mice to the pacing of enclosed 'big cats', are displayed by many millions of farm, zoo, research and companion animals. This book focuses on the causation and treatment of these environment-induced stereotypic behaviours, and their implications for animal welfare and normalcy of brain functioning. The first section takes an ethological perspective, focusing on the constraints captivity places on animals' normal behavioural repertoires, and the effects these have on specific motivational systems. The second section addresses the role of dysfunction, particularly the impact of chronic stress and impoverished environments on brain functioning. The third section looks at how stereotypic behaviours can be tackled, once they have emerged, using diverse techniques from environmental enrichment to pharmaceutical intervention. The volume ends with a synthesis, a suggested new definition for 'stereotypic behaviour', and a discussion of future research directions. This book will be of significant interest to researchers and advanced students in animal behaviour and welfare, animal and veterinary science, comparative psychology, and neuroscience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845934651
Publisher:	CABI
Publication date:	09/04/2008
Series:	CABI Series
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Georgia Mason is a behavioural biologist a the University of Guelph, Canada, who studies how animals adapt (or fail to adapt) to captive housing conditions, especially conditions that meet their physiological needs but are too small or monotonous to allow natural behaviour. She is also interested in the validation of animal welfare indicators.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A decade-or-more’s more progress in understanding stereotypies
Part 1: Normal Animal, Abnormal Environment?, Stereotypic oral behaviour in captive unguates: Foraging, diet and gastro-intestinal function, Locomotory stereotypies in carnivores: does pacing stem from hunting,ranging or frustrated escape? The motivational basis of caged rodents’ stereotypies

Part 2: Stereotypies as Pathologies, Perseveration and Stereotypy Systems-Level Insights from Clinical Psychology, Social deprivation and social separation: Developmental insights from primatology, The Neurobiology of Stereotypy I: Environmental Complexity, The Neurophysiology of Stereotypy II - The Role of Stress

Part 3: Treating Stereotypies, Environmental enrichment as a strategy for mitigating stereotypies in zoo animals: a literature review and meta-analysis, Veterinary and pharmacological approaches to abnormal repetitive behaviour

Part 4: In Conclusion Stereotypies in captive animals: Fundamentals and implications for animal welfare

Editorial Reviews

"Illustrated with numerous examples, this book questions certain preconceptions and looks at how we can build a future in which mankind has a full role to play within nature."—OIE Bulletin

From the Publisher