Quality vs. quantity: Assessing the visibility of the jaguars housed at Chester Zoo, UK

• Published in: Zoo biology 2015-03, Vol.34 (2), p.189-192
• Main Authors: Turnock, Suzanne, Moss, Andrew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: animal behavior; animal visibility; Animal Welfare - standards; Animals; Animals, Zoo - physiology; Animals, Zoo - psychology; Behavior, Animal; Conservation of Natural Resources; Female; Housing, Animal - standards; Linear Models; Male; naturalistic enclosure; Panthera - physiology; Panthera - psychology; Panthera onca; Population Density; Public Relations; zoo visitor
• ISSN: 0733-3188; 1098-2361
• DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21196

To fulfill an educational or visitor‐related role in the zoo's collection, a species needs to be visible to the visiting public. However, this may not always be achievable for animals housed in naturalistic enclosures, particularly species which are highly camouflaged and have an elusive nature, such as jaguars. Four jaguars housed at Chester Zoo (UK) were studied to assess the quality of visibility from the public viewing area and to provide recommendations for assessing visibility to evaluate the educational role of elusive species. Data were recorded on whether the jaguar could be seen, the proportion of the body that was visible and their behavior. The jaguars could be seen 19.5% (i.e. quantity), from the public viewing area, of the observed time. 69.2% of this time the whole of the jaguars’ body was on‐show and it was possible to observe their behavior during all of these observations. However, when less of the body was visible, the behavior of the jaguars could be observed on significantly fewer occasions (P