ABSTRACT
This book outlines some of the most important concepts, approaches, and areas of research in behavioural biology applicable to zoo and aquarium-housed species. It provides relevant information on how to conduct investigations on zoo animal behaviour, as well as identifying how behavioural biology data support population management, husbandry, and welfare decisions and interventions. Taxonomic chapters have pulled together natural history and ecology information from a wide range of species to show specific and general considerations of behavioural biology to species-appropriate care in the zoo. Concluding chapters have set the scene for where there is still a need for behavioural biology knowledge in a wide range of the zoo’s activities, from promoting animal welfare to designing effective visitor education programmes, to management and protection of native species. This final chapter illustrates where the zoo of the future could go with wider use of behavioural biology, with specific focuses on the development of best practice husbandry and ensuring that all species housed can experience a meaningful and biologically relevant standard of care in the modern zoo and aquarium.
