Captive Wild Animals Tend to Have Higher Glucocorticoid Levels Than Their Wild Counterparts?

[evilmonkey239]

I found this study interesting. Definitely suggests that in some cases, maybe anti-zoo activists have a point about stress in captive animals — but in my opinion, that doesn’t take away from the importance of zoos for conservation efforts.

Frontiers | Stress in wildlife: comparison of the stress response among domestic, captive, and free-ranging animals

 

[lintworm]

I found this study interesting. Definitely suggests that in some cases, maybe anti-zoo activists have a point about stress in captive animals — but in my opinion, that doesn’t take away from the importance of zoos for conservation efforts.

Frontiers | Stress in wildlife: comparison of the stress response among domestic, captive, and free-ranging animals

It is interesting, but overall a study with quite some limitation. They sometimes compare similar situations, sometimes compare apples with oranges and overall the study based on very little data. Some of the data is almost surely outdated, I noticed the cheetah data come from the nineties, so are almost surely not valid anymore. The spider monkey data on captive species is also limited in value as it is based on groups housed in small exhibits (<200 square metres), so cannot be compared with many of the better spider monkey exhibits around.

Some studies they use are easier to accept though, like the one on Canadian lynx. Which makes some sense to me, as I think small carnivores usually get the short end of the stick.

I wouldn't be to fussed about such a study overall...

 

[Jurek7]

Unfortunately, this study suffers from selection bias and publication bias.

There is no broad, randomized studies of stress hormones of zoo animals. Zoo animals which stress hormones were measured were pre-selected as probably stressed, so one cannot draw conclusions about zoo animals in general. In addition, results showing no differences are likely not to be published as uninteresting.

Glucocorticoids are a relatively objective way to check stress in zoo animals, independent of human perception how zoo animals 'should' feel. However, I met studies where zoo animals had normal levels of stress hormones (one was brown bears living in a street-facing exhibit outside Warsaw zoo), and these changed nothing in perception of people that these animals 'must be stressed anyway' and campaigns to move them anyway.