Técnicas de enriquecimento ambiental aplicadas para felídeos cativos no brasil: uma revisão bibliográfica

Abstract

An effective alternative for species conservation is ex-situ breeding. However, captivity imposes conditions on wild animals that are very different from those found in natural environments. The captive environment becomes little stimulating and sterile, decreasing the quality of life of captive animals, consequently impairing their welfare. Environmental enrichment is a set of animal management techniques with strategies that aim to increase the comfort and the ability of both the physiological and psychological adaptation of the animal to captivity. Thus, the present study analyzed the literature on environmental enrichment techniques applied to captive felids in Brazil, aiming to identify the state of the art of these researches and to summarize the main conclusions of these works. Eighteen researches were selected for the review, between the years 2005 to 2020, using as inclusion criteria, the minimum of 20 hours of observation, development of the ethogram, performance of the three stages of observation (pre, during and post environmental enrichment), and as exclusion criteria, the lack of clarity in the methodology, researches that promoted drastic changes in the premises during the study and researches that performed hormonal dosage in an invasive way. The results showed that the period with the largest number of publications was from 2015 to 2020, with a predominance of one author per scientific work, with the majority of these ones being monographs and dissertations. Most of the research was carried out in the south and southeast regions, with emphasis on the states of Paraná and Minas Gerais. Leopardus was the most studied genus, Leopardus pardalis and Panthera onca the most studied species. On average 4.5 animals were observed per research, with an average of 154.7 hours of observation. For these observations, the most used method was the focal animal. The average number of behavioral acts per research was 31 and behavioral categories 9.6. Most scientific works developed and used the study subject's ethogram. The behavior most performed by the animals was rest and the environmental enrichment with the greatest interaction was feeding. Four studies used other methodologies for observation in addition to behavioral. The application of environmental enrichment techniques has promoted, in most of the scientific works carried out, the improvement of animal welfare and the reduction of stereotyped behaviors. Thus, it is recommended to implement these techniques as a routine in the management of captive animals.