Cetaceans are long-lived, social species that are valued as ambassadors inspiring the public to engage in conservation action. Under…
Biology & Life Sciences
Cetacean Welfare in Professionally Managed Programs
There is a strong commitment among accredited zoos and aquariums that exhibit cetaceans to use data to ensure the animals thrive under their professional care. This collection presents the results of the first multi-institutional study on cetacean welfare in accredited zoos and aquariums. The authors partnered with 43 accredited zoos and aquariums around the world that resulted in the largest dataset to date on the care and management of cetaceans, including common bottlenose dolphins, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, beluga whales, and Pacific white-sided dolphins. The studies in this collection develop both common and novel indicators of health and welfare for cetaceans in accredited zoos and aquariums and examine how physical habitat, environmental enrichment, and animal training influence the welfare of bottlenose dolphins.
Image Credit: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253732 CC BY 4.0
PLOS ONE
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PLOS ONE Towards understanding the welfare of cetaceans in accredited zoos and aquariums
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PLOS ONE Bottlenose dolphin habitat and management factors related to activity and distance traveled in zoos and aquariums
High-resolution non-invasive cetacean tagging systems can be used to investigate the influence of habitat characteristics and management…
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PLOS ONE Habitat characteristics and animal management factors associated with habitat use by bottlenose dolphins in zoological environments
The way an animal uses its habitat can serve as an indicator of habitat appropriateness for the species and individuals. Bottlenose…
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PLOS ONE Environmental enrichment, training, and habitat characteristics of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)
In recent decades, animal welfare science has evolved to utilize a multidisciplinary approach to assess the welfare of animals in…
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PLOS ONE Health reference intervals and values for common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), and beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)
This study reports comprehensive clinical pathology data for hematology, serum, and plasma biochemistry reference intervals for 174…
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PLOS ONE Assessment of animal management and habitat characteristics associated with social behavior in bottlenose dolphins across zoological facilities
Bottlenose dolphins are a behaviorally complex, social species that display a variety of social behaviors. Because of this, it is…
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PLOS ONE Relationships between animal management and habitat characteristics with two potential indicators of welfare for bottlenose dolphins under professional care
Accredited zoos and aquariums continually strive to ensure high levels of animal welfare for the animals under their professional care.…
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PLOS ONE Reference intervals and values for fecal cortisol, aldosterone, and the ratio of cortisol to dehydroepiandrosterone metabolites in four species of cetaceans
The goal of the current study was to create reference intervals and values for several common and one potential novel physiological…
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PLOS ONE Behavioral diversity as a potential positive indicator of animal welfare in bottlenose dolphins
Accredited zoological facilities are committed to fully understanding the behavioral, mental, and physical needs of each species to…