Poster presentation 12th International Mammalogical Congress

The effect of stereotypic pacing on maintenance behaviour of giant anteater (myrmecophaga tridactyla) (#616)

Yu Nakayama 1 , Daisuke Kohari 1 2 , Atsushi Toyoda 1 2 , Tatsunori Nakane 3 , Azusa Takeda 4 , Rina Maehokama 5
  1. United Graduate School of Agricultural Science Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
  2. Ibaraki University, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki, Japan
  3. Shizuoka Municipal Nihondraira Zoo, Shizuoka, Japan
  4. Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
  5. Okinawa Zoo and Museum Foundation, Okinawa, Japan

Many captive giant anteaters performed stereotypic pacing and this behavior disturbed their normal behaviour. This study aims to clarify how stereotypic pacing affects the maintenance behavior that was the general basic behaviour of captive giant anteater. Nine giant anteaters kept in three zoos in Japan were investigated. We recorded each animal’s 24h behaviour for 5 days using video cameras. The frequency of stereotypic pacing was recorded by 1 minute 1-0 sampling method, and maintenance behaviours (eating, drinking, resting, sleeping, exploring, moving, self-grooming, others) were recorded by a 1 minute instantaneous sampling method. The percentage of the pacing during the activity time that was excluded with sleeping and resting time from 24 hours were compared between zoos or individuals by one-way ANOVA. The correlation coefficient between the percentage of pacing and maintenance behaviour was analyzed by Pearson's and/or Spearman’s test. The percentage of pacing was not different between zoos but obviously different between individuals. We observed four possible factors that would affect pacing: 1) eating, 2) sleeping, 3) locomoting, and 4) social factors. The percentage of pacing was significantly correlated with the sleeping, resting, exploring and others (social) but these correlations were different for each individual. These results suggested that the maintenance behaviours of giant anteaters would be affected by pacing and factors would be different between individuals.