nicman72
Well-Known Member
G'day All,
I was watching a zoo show the other day and they'd rigged up a setup whereby a predator (big cat I think) could actually walk through the enclosure of a 'prey' animal (can't remember what, just some small furries), within a branch of its own enclosure. As expected, the small furries were terrified and ran every time the cat strolled past, even though they were perfectly safe.
At this point the keeper made a very interesting comment which explained the reasoning behind their new setup - essentially, animals in the wild are subjected to natural stresses, and that's what the zoo was recreating.
So this begs the question, should we all occasionally stress our animals out on purpose? Has anyone ever heard of this husbandry method before, or better still, does anyone practice it now, and if so, how do you actually 'stress' them safely? Has there been any meaningful research done on this subject that can prove the benefits?
Up until now, the goal of our husbandry had been to remove ALL stress from our animals' lives; now that I've been thinking about it, the zoo-keeper had a very valid point. Perhaps our reptiles could actually benefit from a bit of 'controlled' stress?
I'd love to open this topic up for everyone's opinion. As far as I'm aware, there's no right or wrong answer, so if we could keep the discussion civil and hear what everyone's got to say, I reckon we'll get some interesting feedback!
So, any thoughts?
Nic
I was watching a zoo show the other day and they'd rigged up a setup whereby a predator (big cat I think) could actually walk through the enclosure of a 'prey' animal (can't remember what, just some small furries), within a branch of its own enclosure. As expected, the small furries were terrified and ran every time the cat strolled past, even though they were perfectly safe.
At this point the keeper made a very interesting comment which explained the reasoning behind their new setup - essentially, animals in the wild are subjected to natural stresses, and that's what the zoo was recreating.
So this begs the question, should we all occasionally stress our animals out on purpose? Has anyone ever heard of this husbandry method before, or better still, does anyone practice it now, and if so, how do you actually 'stress' them safely? Has there been any meaningful research done on this subject that can prove the benefits?
Up until now, the goal of our husbandry had been to remove ALL stress from our animals' lives; now that I've been thinking about it, the zoo-keeper had a very valid point. Perhaps our reptiles could actually benefit from a bit of 'controlled' stress?
I'd love to open this topic up for everyone's opinion. As far as I'm aware, there's no right or wrong answer, so if we could keep the discussion civil and hear what everyone's got to say, I reckon we'll get some interesting feedback!
So, any thoughts?
Nic
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