Study on Daily Activity Pattern of Captive Lion (Panthera leo) in Siantar Zoo, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

The present study investigated diurnal or daily activity patterns of an individual captive lion (Panthera leo) in Siantar Zoo, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Behavioral observations of 70 hours in 10-days observation were analyzed descriptively for common Felidae behaviors identified using a standardized Felidae ethogram. The methodology used was focal animal sampling with continuous sampling of data record or 5-minute sampling periods. We reported that the captive lion allocated the most time budgets in inactive behavior or sleeping with the percentage of 62.88% or 2,604 minutes. Incidence of pacing as stereotypic behavior was documented in low percentage or 4.46% within the duration of or 189 minutes in our study. The dominant sleeping behavior may be considered as normal to captive Felidae in many zoos while some consideration upon their effect to visitor may be evaluated in the future study. Dynamic condition of display cage may be enriched to trigger better behavior related to welfare implications on the captive lion.

Diurnal and Nocturnal Behaviour of Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and Lions (Panthera leo) in Zoos

“…Lions slept most of the night, with sleep divided into few but long sleep phases. The results obtained on sleep behaviour are consistent with previous studies on captive lions [ 73 , 74 , 87 ]. In contrast to lions, cheetahs slept slightly less overall at night, with sleep divided into many short sleep phases.…”

“…Animals anticipated scheduled feeding times and got active around these assumed periods of time. Accordingly, previous research also showed that lions in zoos exhibit activity peaks during the day around feeding times [ 43 , 74 ]. Nevertheless, lions also showed a high percentage of resting behaviour during the day which is in line with observations on the diurnal resting behaviour of their wild conspecifics [ 3 , 84 , 85 , 86 ].…”

“…Only the consistent observations over 24 h and many days and nights enabled us to determine a species-specific 24-h behavioural rhythm. So far, behavioural studies in zoos have mainly focused on the analysis of diurnal behaviour within narrow time windows [ 73 , 74 , 75 ]. Due to time constraints, scan sampling is a method commonly used to study stereotypic behaviour or the effect of enrichment [ 73 , 76 , 77 , 78 ].…”

“…To make further statements about this, the influence of the feeding schedule on the behaviour of these animals would have to be observed over a longer period than 14 days and nights. Consequently, feeding may have a strong influence on the activity budget of carnivores as shown by studies on leopards and lions [ 10 , 43 , 74 ]. Especially with scheduled feeding times, delayed feeding has been shown to result in a change in behaviour [ 41 , 44 , 98 ].…”

Automatically detecting stereotyped behaviors from surveillance videos of zoos and animal reserves for captive animal welfare

“…the behavior of a lion was observed for ten days in Siantar Zoo, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Focal animal sampling was used for descriptive analysis of 70 hours of behavior observation [11]. Wagner et al observed the behavior of capuchin monkeys in the public Zoo of Vers-Duifen, Brazil, for 40 days to determine the frequency of stereotypical behavior and self-orientation and to analyze the effects on behavioral stability [12].…”