Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T11:10:33.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mealworm Dispensers as Environmental Enrichment for Captive Rodrigues Fruit Bats (Pteropus Rodricensis)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

K I O'Connor
K I O'Connor*
Affiliation:
Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Gl2 8QQ, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study is an assessment of the use of mealworm dispensers as environmental enrichment devices for Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodncensis). Captive animals frequently receive easily consumed food at set times and locations, which often minimizes the time they spend searching for and processing food. The mealworm dispensers used in this study provide an unpredictable food source, which allows the link between foraging and feeding to be reinstated. Mealworm dispensers were placed into the Rodrigues fruit bat enclosure at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust and the behaviour of the bats recorded over 14 days. For 7 days the dispensers were empty but, for the remaining 7, 20 mealworms were placed in each dispenser. The number of bats feeding declined with increasing time from initial food presentation in all cases, but the presence of mealworms in the dispensers decreased the rate of decline. In addition, the number of bats active within 20cm of the food in the dishes and on the heater tops increased significantly when mealworms were present. Although the presence of mealworms had no effect on the number of flights made by the group of bats as a whole, both the number of bats on the enclosure floor and the amount of aggression observed in the enclosure decreased when mealworms were present.

Installation of mealworm dispensers meant that the bats found food items as a consequence of their natural exploratory and foraging behaviour, and as such they provided important ingredients for approximating a natural habitat and improving welfare.

Keywords

animal welfareenvironmental enrichmentforagingfruit batsPteropus rodricensis
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , May 2000 , pp. 123 - 137
Copyright
© 2000 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Anderson, J R and Chamove, AS 1984 Allowing captive primates to forage. In: Standards in Laboratory Animal Management (part 2). Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: South Mimms, UKGoogle Scholar
Carder, B and Berkowitz, K 1970 Rats’ preference for earned in comparison with free food. Science 167: 1273–1274CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, J B 1978 Behavioural observations on the Rodrigues fruit bat Pteropus rodricensis following a move to a new accommodation and reversal of the light/dark regime. Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust 15: 52–60Google Scholar
Carroll, J B 1979 The general behavioural repertoire of the Rodrigues fruit bats Pteropus rodricensis in captivity at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust 16: 51–59Google Scholar
Carroll, J B 1981 The wild status and behaviour of Rodrigues fruit bats Pteropus rodricensis. A short report of the 1981 field study. Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust 18: 20–29Google Scholar
Catlow, G, Ryan, P M and Young, R J 1997 Please don't touch we're being enriched! In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Enrichment pp 209-217. 12-17 October 1997 Orlando, USAGoogle Scholar
Cheke, A S and Dahl, J F 1981 The status of bats on western Indian Ocean islands, with special reference to Pteropus. Mammalia 45: 205–238Google Scholar
Coe, J C 1985 Design and perception: making the zoo experience real. Zoo Biology 4: 197–208CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courts, S E 1997 Insectivory in captive Livingstone's and Rodrigues fruit bats Pteropus livingstonii and P. rodricensis (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae): a behavioural adaptation for obtaining protein. Journal of Zoology, London 242: 404–410CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courts, S E 1998 Insectivorous habits of fruit bats. In: Pteropus, The Lubee Foundation Technical Bulletin 4 4 pp. The Lubee Foundation Inc: Gainesville, USAGoogle Scholar
Duncan, I J H and Hughes, B O 1972 Free and operand feeding in domestic fowls. Animal Behaviour 20: 775–777CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Havelka, J 1956 Problem seeking behavior in rats. Canadian Journal of Psychology 10: 91–97CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herbers, J M 1981 Time resources and laziness in animals. Oecologia 49: 252–262CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herron, S 1997 Environmental enrichment devices currently in use at Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Enrichment pp 300-312. 12—17 October 1997 Orlando, USAGoogle Scholar
Hoist, B 1997 The ethics of environmental enrichment. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Enrichment pp 45-48. 12-17 October 1997 Orlando, USAGoogle Scholar
Inglis, I R and Ferguson, N J K 1985 Starlings search for food rather than eat freely available identical food. Animal Behaviour 34: 614–617CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ings, R, Waran, N K and Young, R J 1997 Effect of wood-pile feeders on the behaviour of captive bush dogs (Speothos venaticus). Animal Welfare 6: 145–152CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, E D 1963 Preference for bar pressing over ‘free loading’ as a function of number of rewarded presses. Journal of Experimental Psychology 65: 451–454CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kunz, T H, Allgaier, A L, Seyjagat, J and Caligiuri, R 1994 Allomaternal care: helper-assisted birth in the Rodrigues fruit bat, Pteropus rodricensis (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Journal of Zoology, London 232: 691–700CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, G, Boyle, H, Johnston, J and MacDonald, A 1990 Food presentation, part 2: cats. Ratel 17: 103–106Google Scholar
Lim, B L 1973 Breeding patterns, food habits and parasitic infestation in Gunong Brinchang. Malayan Nature Journal 26: 6–13Google Scholar
Maple, T L and Finlay, T W 1987 Postoccupancy evaluation in the zoo. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 18: 5–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P and Bateson, P P P G 1993 Measuring Behaviour. An Introductory Guide. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuringer, A J 1969 Animals respond for food in the presence of free food. Science 166: 399–401CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neuringer, A J 1970 Many responses for food reward with free food present. Science 169: 503–504CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norusis, M J 1998 SPSS 8.0 Guide to Data Analysis. Prentice Hall: New Jersey, USAGoogle Scholar
Parry-Jones, K and Augee, ML 1991 The diet of flying foxes in the Sydney and Gosgord areas of New South Wales, based on sighting reports 1986-1990. Australian Zoologist 27: 49–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pope, B 1997 Insectivory as an enrichment option with the Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodricensis). In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Enrichment pp 383-385. 12-17 October 1997 Orlando, USAGoogle Scholar
Roberts, P and Seabrook, W A 1989 A relationship between black rats (Rattus rattus), Seychelles fruit bats (Pteropus seychellensis aldabrensis) and the coccoid (Icerya seychellarum) (Insecta, Homoptera) on Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Journal of Zoology, London 218: 332–334CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russo, D 1994 Feeding Activity and Behaviours Displayed at the Stations in a Colony of Rodrigues Fruit Bats Pteropus rodricensis. Unpublished report of the JWPT Summer School Projects pp 95–116Google Scholar
Shepherdson, D, Brownback, T and Tinkler, D 1990 Putting the wild back into zoos: enriching the zoo environment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 28: 300CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherdson, D, Carlstead, K, Mellen, J D and Seidensticker, J 1993 The influence of food presentation on the behavior of small cats in confined environments. Zoo Biology 12: 203–216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, D 1970 Preference for bar pressing to obtain rewards over freeloading in rats and children. Journal of Comparative Psychology 73: 320–327CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sommer, R 1972 What do we learn at the zoo? Natural History 81: 25–26, 81–84Google Scholar
Start, A N and Marshall, A G 1976 Nectivorous bats as pollinators of trees in West Malaysia. In: Burley, J and Stiles, B T (eds) Variation, Breeding and Conservation of Tropical Forest Trees. Academic Press: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Thomas, D W 1982 The Ecology of an African Savannah Fruit Bat Community Resource Partitioning and Role in Seed Dispersal. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen, UKGoogle Scholar
Tudge, C 1992 Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinction can be Stopped. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Walker, E P 1964 Mammals of the World, Volume 1. The John Hopkins Press: Baltimore, USAGoogle Scholar
West, C C and Redshaw, M E 1987 Maternal behaviour in the Rodrigues fruit bat Pteropus rodricensis. Dodo, Journal of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust 24: 68–81Google Scholar