Studying personality in captive animals may enable the development of individual-based management decisions, which may improve animal welfare. Asiatic lions at London Zoo represent an opportunity to research an understudied species' response to new environments since they have experienced social and physical changes, such as new enclosures and increased social interaction with humans. This project aimed to investigate the role of personality in behavioral responses to these changes. Lion personality questionnaires completed by keepers and direct focal animal observations were used to create personality profiles. Time budgets and enclosure use were determined and compared between control nights and event nights and between the lions' previous enclosure and their new one. The results showed a lack of difference in time budget and enclosure use between control and social event nights, and the spread of participation index values revealed that the lions use their enclosures unevenly. Personality profiles identified various traits that could assist with individual-based management decisions. As the first study to assess Asiatic lions personality, this research contributes to the creation of consistent and valid methodology for evaluating captive animal personality that may improve husbandry and welfare protocols for individual lions, leading to the improved health and success of the species.

Simple SummaryAnimal personality research is a growing field, since understanding animal personalities has notable implications in ecology and the evolution of animal behaviours. In the current study, we tested different methods described in the literature to obtain robust individual behavioural profiles. Data collected through behavioral observations were categorised into activity budgets, space usage, and social interactions for each individual. In addition, behavioural profile questionnaires were completed by the three zoo keepers who had regular interactions with the bears. The questionnaires included 22 adjectives, which were rated on a scale of 1–12 depending on how well they described each individual bear. The mean ratings of the keepers were used to create the behavioural profiles by adding the adjectives to the appropriate domains, according to the NEO Five Factor Inventory of personality model (NEO-FFI). The data gathered was used to produce behavioural profiles for all animals, in order to clarify the personality characteristics of each subject. Testing and improving existing methodologies to determine animal personality is important for providing optimal welfare and management of captive animals, since it can help to develop more effective management regimes in zoos by remodelling husbandry according to each animal’s personality type.AbstractThree brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) individuals and two sloth bear (Melursus ursinus inornatus) individuals were observed in captivity to produce behavioural profiles for each individual. Data collected through behavioural observations were used to produce activity budgets, and to identify space usage and certain aspects of social behavior. Behaviour monitoring allowed the researchers to evaluate the welfare of the animals by identifying the occurrence of stereotypic behaviours, which are sometimes associated with stress. Behavioural profiles were created using data obtained through behavioural observations (coding) and keeper questionnaires (rating). The behavioural observations indicated a number of stereotypic behaviours in sloth bears but not in brown bears. The uniformity of zone usage was calculated to investigate if the enclosure size and features were adequate for use, and a social aspect of otherwise solitary animals was also identified. The behavioural profiles generated through coding and rating were compared to determine the reliability between these two methods in Ursids. Profiles were not compared between individuals since this study is not a comparison between different personality types but rather an effort (one of the few ones existing in literature) to select a valid and reproducible methodology capable of assessing personality in bears.

Aims:In this study we assessed the personality and sociality of eight zoo tigers. Place and Duration of the Study: This study was conducted over five months at Le Cornelle Faunistic Park (Valbrembo, BG, Italy). Methodology: A multifaceted approach of observer ratings (rating method) and keeper questionnaires (coding method) was used to produce personality profiles for each tiger. Focal animal behavioural observations allowed the production of time budgets and enclosure usage for each animal. Sociality was measured through Association Index, both for intraspecific (tiger-tiger) ARRB, 21(2): 1-17, 2017; Article no.ARRB.38122 2 and interspecific (keeper-tiger) dyads. Keeper Association Index and eventual tiger affiliative behavior towards keepers was measured during indoor interactions in the morning and in the evening at lock up and feeding times. Results: All the results outlined a distinct personality in each animal, different levels of intraspecific sociality and affiliative behavior towards each keeper. Conclusions: We advocate that this deeper understanding of each animal's personality and behavior can offer practical help to zoological institutions to facilitate daily husbandry, animal welfare, tailor training or enrichment and ultimately increase reproductive success. Original Research Article