A special issue on the interface between cognition and care for animals in captive settings. Within the special issue are papers examining different aspects of cognitive tasks as possible outlets for different terrestrial animals often found in captive settings such as zoological facilities and laboratories.

Studies with captive fowl have revealed that they possess greater cognitive capacities than previously thought. We now know that fowl have sophisticated cognitive and communicative skills, which had hitherto been associated only with certain primates. Several theories have been advanced to explain the evolution of such complex behavior. Central to these theories is the enlargement of the brain ...

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the delegation of one or more business processes to an external service provider (which may be an offshore captive centre or a third party). The focus of most BPO research has been the cost reductions delivered by third party providers of BPO services in offshore locations in India, Eastern Europe and elsewhere, and there has been little research on captive...

Great apes are mammals close to humans in their genetic, behavioral, social and evolutionary characteristics and new genomic information is revolutionizing our understanding of evolution in primates. However, all these species are endangered. While there are many global programs to protect these species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) projects that in a near future th...

salmonella spp. are zoonotic enteric bacteria able to infect humans, livestock and wildlife. the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of salmonella (spp.) and to determine antibiotic susceptibility, serogrouping and presence of inva gene (salmonella invasion gene a) in the detected strains in wild captive herbivores in iran. the fecal samples of 103 animals from 8 different sp...

BACKGROUND Many captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) show a variety of serious behavioural abnormalities, some of which have been considered as possible signs of compromised mental health. The provision of environmental enrichments aimed at reducing the performance of abnormal behaviours is increasing the norm, with the housing of individuals in (semi-)natural social groups thought to be the m...

Weaning is a transition in early development with major implications for infant survival and well-being, and for maternal lifetime reproductive success. The particular strategy a primate mother adopts in rearing her offspring represents a negotiation between her ability to invest and her need to invest, and can be considered adaptive and influenced by biological and social factors. Any investig...

Studies spanning 15 species (including American mink, Neovison vison) demonstrate that within similarly-housed populations, individuals displaying high levels of stereotypic behaviour (SB) typically show perseverative responding (e.g. during set-shifting, or reversal/extinction learning). Similar correlations in autism and schizophrenia suggest this indicates captivity-induced cortico-striatal ...

Although play behavior is difficult to define, it has been abundantly documented in the cetacean literature. Play behavior is prevalent among the various taxa and is exhibited by individuals of all age classes. However, it is often difficult to follow individuals, observe underwater behavior, and obtain multiple sightings of individuals when investigating free-ranging populations. Captive studi...

Wild carnivores in zoos, conservation breeding centres, and farms commonly live in relatively small, unstimulating enclosures. Under these captive conditions, in a range of species including giant pandas, black-footed ferrets, and European mink, male reproductive abilities are often poor. Such problems have long been hypothesized to be caused by these animals' housing conditions. We show for th...