Comparison of the COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on Zoo Animals Behaviour

Kim Bueno^*
*Correspondence: Kim Bueno, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany, Email:

Introduction

Visitors play a significant role in the lives of zoo animals because millions of people visit them each year. Variable aspects of visitor presence, such as noise, crowd density, activity, proximity to zoo animals, and visitor behavior, have altered the behavior and physiological state of some zoo species. Guests can have negative, unbiased, or positive impacts on zoo creature government assistance being either a source of enrichment or a source of stress for some animals. Animals have been found to have stable background noise from visitors which serves as a noise buffer from other sounds in the zoo. Different species and individuals respond differently to visitors to the zoo. This variation can be attributed to a variety of factors, such as differences in enclosure design, species characteristics, temperament, or prior interactions with humans. Zoo animals that are constantly around visitors may become accustomed to them. The Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 prompted the brief terminations of zoological offices across the globe [1].

Description

A lot of research has been done to see how these closures affect a variety of animals, mostly by looking at changes in behavior but also by measuring how often the animals use the enclosure and how healthy they are although a variety of responses (positive, negative, or neutral) have been reported, no studies have yet identified significant positive or negative effects of the closures or reopening periods. Researchers suggested that returning visitors were a positive stimulus, and that positive impacts included closer proximity to visitors, increased engagement with enrichment, and positive human animal interactions (HAIs). During open times, the Eastern black-and-white colobus monkey (Colobus guereza), Allen's swamp monkey (Allenopithecus nigroviridis), DeBrazza's monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus), Bolivian grey titi monkey (Callicebus donacophilus), crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus), polar bear (Ursus maritimus), and banteng engaged in more feeding and interaction with enrichment when the zoo was open, and olive baboons (Papio anubis) approached visitor cars more frequently than they did the ranger's vehicle during closures. However, during open times, they showed a preference for the testing booth side closest to visitors, and response latency was quicker when the zoo was open [2-5].

Conclusion

When the data for this study were first collected, zoos and their staff members had to quickly adjust to a world that was always changing. There was variation in the amount of data collected per week, as well as the beginning date for data collection, during closures and subsequent reopening periods due to the requirements that staff carry out the observations to guarantee consistency across facilities. This study's species represented a variety of animals that were housed in enclosures with varying levels of visitor access. For instance, there may have been more data collected during the first weeks following the second and third closure periods than during the first. This may have resulted in the collection of data that allowed for a greater impact of novelty to the new condition during those times rather than once animals were more accustomed to visitors returning to zoos. The animals in this study had varying responses to the closures and subsequent reopening periods, as was the case in previous studies examining the effects of COVID-19 zoological closures on animals. In some cases, changes were also observed over time, with animals responding differently to each closure and reopening period. Changes were also observed between open and closure periods. The closures and reopenings have not, however, been shown to have any obvious positive or negative effects on these species. As with other work in this area, this oneof- a-kind opportunity to study animals over a prolonged period of time during repeated closure periods has highlighted the adaptability of zoo animals to the zoo visitor. This work enhances our understanding of the impact of these zoological closures on a larger number of species in a number of facilities and contributes to the expanding field of research carried out during the COVID-19 periods.

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