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      Behavioural Diversity Study in Bottlenose Dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus) Groups and Its Implications for Welfare Assessments

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          Abstract

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          For the first time, a behavioural diversity study was conducted on several bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) groups within European Association of Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) accredited facilities. This study was carried out by professional animal staff on 54 dolphins, and the goal was to analyse behavioural diversity in bottlenose dolphins at the group level to investigate how particular factors might impact the diversity of behaviours within the group and to discuss its implications for dolphin welfare assessments. This study showed its feasibility and revealed impacting factors that would need to be considered in future dolphin welfare assessments. We strongly believe that behavioural evaluations and measurements could be applied routinely on cetaceans under professional care to assess their welfare.

          Abstract

          In the recent past, animal welfare studies have tried to determine the best animal welfare measures and indicators. Expression of behavioural diversity is considered a potential positive welfare indicator, and to the authors’ knowledge, it has not been validated nor studied in cetaceans. For the first time, a behavioural diversity study on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) groups was conducted at six European facilities. The study was carried out by the animal care staff, biologists and veterinarians and included 54 dolphins housed in several group compositions at the different participating facilities. The goal of our study was to analyse behavioural diversity in bottlenose dolphins at the group level to investigate how particular factors might impact the diversity of behaviours within the group and to discuss its implications for dolphin welfare assessments. Eight factors (i.e., “observer location”, “number of individuals”, “age class”, “sex”, “social grouping”, “presence/absence of leading male”, “presence/absence of visitors” and “enrichment provision”) impacted the behavioural diversity of the observed groups, while no significant impact of the factors “time of day” and “activity before/after observation” could be found. Our study showed the feasibility of this kind of approach for cetaceans under professional care and the relevance to considering this parameter in dolphin welfare studies, despite certain limitations that warrant further research.

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Academic Editor
                Journal
                Animals (Basel)
                Animals (Basel)
                animals
                Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI
                MDPI
                2076-2615
                08 June 2021
                June 2021
                : 11
                : 6
                : 1715
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Parc Asterix, 60128 Plailly, France
                [2 ]Marine Research Institute, Klaipeda University, 92294 Klaipeda, Lithuania; ruta@ 123456fox-zooconsulting.com
                [3 ]Lithuania & Fox Consulting, 67500 Haguenau, France
                [4 ]Fundación Oceanográfic de la Comunitat Valenciana, 46013 Valencia, Spain; dgarcia@ 123456oceanografic.org
                [5 ]Zoomarine Italia, 00071 Pomezia, Italy; cpilenga@ 123456zoomarine.it
                [6 ]Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China; agathe.serres11@ 123456gmail.com
                [7 ]Marineland Parks, CS 91111, CEDEX, 06605 Antibes, France; i.brasseur@ 123456marineland.fr
                [8 ]ONIRIS—Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Nantes, 101 Route de Gachet, 44307 Nantes, France; pascaud.ana@ 123456gmail.com
                [9 ]Planète Sauvage, 44710 Nantes, France
                [10 ]Mundomar Benidorm, 03503 Benidorm, Spain; Kike@ 123456mundomar.es
                [11 ]Mediterraneo Marine Park, NXR9038 Bahar ic-Caghaq, Malta; vet@ 123456mediterraneopark.com
                [12 ]Zoo Nuremberg, Am Tiergarten 30, 90480 Nuremberg, Germany; Katrin.baumgartner@ 123456stadt.nuernberg.de
                [13 ]International Zoo Veterinary Group, Keighley BD21 4NQ, UK; t.monreal@ 123456izvg.co.uk
                Author notes
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3335-5831
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7664-2531
                Article
                animals-11-01715
                10.3390/ani11061715
                8230076
                eff54af1-ea60-4b97-9e8c-84080ebc54fc
                © 2021 by the authors.

                Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 06 May 2021
                : 04 June 2021
                Categories
                Article

                animal welfare,welfare assessment,welfare indicator,behavioural diversity,marine mammals,bottlenose dolphin

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