Training Reduces Stress in Human-Socialised Wolves to the Same Degree as in Dogs.

ABSTRACT: The welfare of animals in captivity is of considerable societal concern. A major source of stress, especially for wild animals, is the lack of control over their environment, which includes not being able to avoid contact with human beings. Paradoxically, some studies have shown that interactions with human beings may improve the welfare of wild animals in captivity. Here, we investigated the behavioural (behaviours indicative of cooperation or stress) and physiological (variations in salivary cortisol concentrations) effects of the increasingly used practice of training wild animals as a way to facilitate handling and/or as behavioural enrichment. We evaluated the effects of indoor training sessions with familiar caretakers on nine human-socialised individuals of a wild species, the wolf

SUBMITTER: Vasconcellos Ada S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5017772 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature