Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>)
Despite the known benefit of considering welfare within wildlife conservation and management, there remains a lack of data to inform such evaluations. To assess animal welfare, relevant information must be captured scientifically and systematically. A key first step is identifying potential indicato...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/14/1861 |
| _version_ | 1827598298132774912 |
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| author | Rebecca M. Boys Ngaio J. Beausoleil Matthew D. M. Pawley Emma L. Betty Karen A. Stockin |
| author_facet | Rebecca M. Boys Ngaio J. Beausoleil Matthew D. M. Pawley Emma L. Betty Karen A. Stockin |
| author_sort | Rebecca M. Boys |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite the known benefit of considering welfare within wildlife conservation and management, there remains a lack of data to inform such evaluations. To assess animal welfare, relevant information must be captured scientifically and systematically. A key first step is identifying potential indicators of welfare and the practicality of their measurement. We assessed the feasibility of evaluating potential welfare indicators from opportunistically gathered video footage of four stranded odontocete species (<i>n</i> = 53) at 14 stranding events around New Zealand. The first stranded cetacean ethogram was compiled, including 30 different behaviours, 20 of which were observed in all four species. Additionally, thirteen types of human intervention were classified. A subset of 49 live stranded long-finned pilot whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) were assessed to determine indicator prevalence and to quantify behaviours. Four ‘welfare status’ and six ‘welfare alerting’ non-behavioural indicators could be consistently evaluated from the footage. Additionally, two composite behavioural indicators were feasible. Three human intervention types (present, watering, and touching) and five animal behaviours (tail flutter, dorsal fin flutter, head lift, tail lift, and head side-to-side) were prevalent (>40% of individuals). Our study highlights the potential for non-invasive, remote assessments via video footage and represents an initial step towards developing a systematic, holistic welfare assessment framework for stranded cetaceans. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:47:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8bad2c398d9443ea9c222cf0f17009e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:47:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-8bad2c398d9443ea9c222cf0f17009e42023-12-03T14:32:18ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-07-011214186110.3390/ani12141861Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>)Rebecca M. Boys0Ngaio J. Beausoleil1Matthew D. M. Pawley2Emma L. Betty3Karen A. Stockin4Cetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, College of Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904, Auckland 1142, New ZealandAnimal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre, School of Veterinary Science, College of Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New ZealandSchool of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, College of Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904, Auckland 1142, New ZealandCetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, College of Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904, Auckland 1142, New ZealandCetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, College of Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904, Auckland 1142, New ZealandDespite the known benefit of considering welfare within wildlife conservation and management, there remains a lack of data to inform such evaluations. To assess animal welfare, relevant information must be captured scientifically and systematically. A key first step is identifying potential indicators of welfare and the practicality of their measurement. We assessed the feasibility of evaluating potential welfare indicators from opportunistically gathered video footage of four stranded odontocete species (<i>n</i> = 53) at 14 stranding events around New Zealand. The first stranded cetacean ethogram was compiled, including 30 different behaviours, 20 of which were observed in all four species. Additionally, thirteen types of human intervention were classified. A subset of 49 live stranded long-finned pilot whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) were assessed to determine indicator prevalence and to quantify behaviours. Four ‘welfare status’ and six ‘welfare alerting’ non-behavioural indicators could be consistently evaluated from the footage. Additionally, two composite behavioural indicators were feasible. Three human intervention types (present, watering, and touching) and five animal behaviours (tail flutter, dorsal fin flutter, head lift, tail lift, and head side-to-side) were prevalent (>40% of individuals). Our study highlights the potential for non-invasive, remote assessments via video footage and represents an initial step towards developing a systematic, holistic welfare assessment framework for stranded cetaceans.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/14/1861animal welfare assessmentbehaviourhuman interventionmarine mammalcetaceanmanagement |
| spellingShingle | Rebecca M. Boys Ngaio J. Beausoleil Matthew D. M. Pawley Emma L. Betty Karen A. Stockin Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) Animals animal welfare assessment behaviour human intervention marine mammal cetacean management |
| title | Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) |
| title_full | Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) |
| title_short | Evaluating Potential Cetacean Welfare Indicators from Video of Live Stranded Long-Finned Pilot Whales (<i>Globicephala melas edwardii</i>) |
| title_sort | evaluating potential cetacean welfare indicators from video of live stranded long finned pilot whales i globicephala melas edwardii i |
| topic | animal welfare assessment behaviour human intervention marine mammal cetacean management |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/14/1861 |
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