Enclosure utilization and space preference in captive dholes (Cuon alpinus)

Sammanfattning:

Knowledge of how animals utilize their space can be important when they are held in captivity. This is especially true for animals that are on the edge of extinction as such knowledge can possibly help to improve their captive breeding programs. One of these animals is the dhole, Cuon alpinus. The aim for this study was to assess how the dholes at Kolmården zoo utilize their space, if they share space and if they prefer to use specific pathways. The study took place at Kolmården zoo during 12 days and included a total of 72 hours of visual observation. A summarized map, with subdivision into 14 zones, of the dholes’ enclosure was used when recording the dholes’ location. For location recordings scan sampling was used. The dholes showed marked differences in utilization of zones ranging from the most popular zone with 1341 markings to the least popular zone with 71 markings. There was a clear preference for three zones during the whole observation period. No marked differences for utilization of zones were found between feeding vs. non-feeding days and morning vs. afternoon. Furthermore, the dholes showed a tendency for sharing space and utilization of two pathways. This project makes it evident that the dholes at Kolmården zoo prefer certain zones within their enclosure. This is probably due to that the zones preferred provides locations with access to resting, lookout possibilities etc that is important for the dholes to express a natural behavior.