Behavioral Assessment of Six Reptile Species during a Temporary Zoo Closure and Reopening.

Although reptiles are commonly housed in zoos and aquariums, their welfare is understudied for the diversity of species housed and the taxon's current captive population size. The sensory abilities of reptiles have adapted to the varied ecological niches they inhabit, and these evolutionary adaptations impact how reptiles perceive the stimuli around them-including zoo visitors. This study aimed to assess visitor effects on small groups of six reptile species during a temporary zoo closure due to COVID-19 by measuring behavioral diversity, use of space (measured by a spread of participation index), and select behaviors. The species assessed showed diverse responses. The Catalina Island rattlesnakes (Crotalus catalinensis) demonstrated increased investigation and behavioral diversity after the zoo reopened compared to when the zoo was closed, but the European glass lizards (Pseudopus apodus) showed decreases in the amount of time spent exposed to the observers' view and in their evenness of space use after the zoo was reopened to visitors. The other species, including beaded lizards (Heloderma horridum), Sonoran spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura macrolopha), Arrau turtles (Podocnemis expansa), and dwarf caimans (Paleosuchus palpebrosus), had intermediate changes in their responses to visitor presence.

Behavioral Implications of the Complete Absence of Guests on a Zoo-Housed Gorilla Troop.

Research conducted on the effects that zoo visitors have on primate behavior has yielded inconsistent patterns. This study aims to contribute to the growing body of literature regarding visitor effects on zoo-housed primate's activity budgets, with the purpose of quantifying the behavioral variability under two conditions: guest presence and guest absence. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many zoos were closed to the public for varying lengths of time. The Buffalo Zoo was closed to guests for an 18-week period including the summer of 2020, which allowed us to effectively control for zoo guest presence. This case report compares data on the zoo's gorilla troop from the same time period in 2019. We found inconsistent results, similar to prior studies conducted with zoo-housed gorilla troops. Most gorillas were observed foraging less and exhibiting more inactivity in 2020, whereas the adult male silverback showed the opposite pattern. Abnormal or undesirable behaviors were performed less frequently when guests were absent however, these differences were not significant. We encourage others to compare behavior patterns during the pandemic shutdown to add to our knowledge base of visitor effects. We suggest that researchers do not try and generalize their individual and troop results to the entire population of gorillas in managed care, as both intrinsic and extrinsic factors contribute to individual differences in behavioral response.