NATURA

Natura
Natura
Animals in captivity.
The definition of captivity is the state
or period of being held, imprisoned, enslaved,
or confined. All negative words. Is
captivity of animals only a bad thing, or
is there something positive with keeping
animals in captivity? The focus of this
article is on animals in captivity, based on
research about the subject and a visit to
the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
When thinking about animals, the image that first comes to
mind is of animals living in the wild, freely flying, walking
or running. Captive animals are usually not first thought
of, even though zoos are places where many people observe
animals for the first time.
The most common and natural way of animals is to live wild
in nature, hunt for food, communicate with other animals
and reproduce. It was not until humans started harvesting
and using animals that the capture of wild animals started.
Since the early societies of the Egyptians, Greeks and the
Chinese, animals were also kept for entertainment and pleasure.
In our days, many species of animals are kept in captivity.
The purpose is variable; for usage in farming, for dairy production,
for labour, or for entertainment and education.
What differs from the wild to being in captivity? It depends
on the types of of captivity but captive animals have a few
things in common, including access to food, limited range of
space and human influence. It can be variable whether the animals
must “hunt” the food they are provided, in other words
show some activity to get fed, or if they are just fed and have
to do nothing except eat. Animals that have large natural
home ranges, including elephants, lions and polar bears, seem
to tolerate closure worse than others. Animals in zoos or
other public places must tolerate humans and all their noise
and distraction.
Image 2. Leopard Panthera pardus.
Stereotypic animal behaviour is when animals repeat abnormal
behaviour. It can be all kinds of behaviour, for example
walking, shaking or blinking. What causes this activity is not
known, but it is common among animals in captivity. One
theory is that this is a way of coping with being in captivity.
In nature many animals need to hunt their own prey, often
running and using a lot of energy. In captivity the release of
energy can often be difficult, causing the animals to behave
in a way to reduce this unused energy. Others suggest that
this is a brain dysfunction caused by stress. Not necessarily
a stress at the time when the behaviour is conducted, but
possibly because of a former stress; a scar from the past.
One type of stereotypic behaviour is constantly and repeatedly
walking the same trail, resulting in paths in the ground. In
Yorkshire Wildlife Park this was obvious for a number of animals,
such as the leopards and the lions. Many behavioural
types not seen
in the wild have
been registered
for animals
in captivity,
for example
hair plucking,
bar biting,
neck twisting,
vomiting and
self mutilation.
Image 3. Leopard Panthera pardus.
Image 5. Zebra Equus quagga. [Non-marked]
Image 4. Ankole-Watusi, also known as Ankole longhorn with latin name Bos taurus. Native on the
savannas and open grasslands in Africa. Here feeding in Yorkshire Wildlife Park. [Non-marked]
6 _____natura
Image 1. Victor the Polar bear Ursus maritimus.
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