Measuring the impact of transport on animal welfare through salivary cortisol concentrations
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Date
2021-04
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Abstract
As understanding of animal welfare continues to develop, it is important to assess animals in circumstances known to have potential negative implications on animal welfare. Animal transport has known stressors associated with the process that may have negative welfare consequences, yet for commonly transported species, such as marine mammals, there have been few studies evaluating the welfare effect of transport. In this study, I aimed to assess the welfare effect of transport on a population of zoo-housed California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) through measurement of salivary cortisol concentrations (SCC) and environmental parameters in the transport vehicles. I found a species-specific range of SCC to be 12.37 ± 18.88 nmol/L, with no change in SCC during transport (P = 0.29), but elevated post-transport (P < 0.0001). Additionally, I found mean temperature, humidity, and shock for the duration of transport to be 21.85 ± 2.09 ℃, 77.43 ± 4.54 %rH, and 2.47 ± 0.014 g, respectively. I describe some evidence for the benefits of prior experience in minimizing the potential stress of novelty in transport, although effects of veterinarian-recommended sedatives administered for transport may be confounding some results. However, given the lack of previous studies in this area, these findings represent novel contributions to marine mammal welfare science and provide a foundation for future research in this field.
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Poster Division: Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (FAES): 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)
Keywords
animal welfare, marine mammals, transport, cortisol, sea lions