Greetings MARMAM, I am pleased to share our newest open access publication in Zoo Biology titled: "Antillean manatee calves in captive rehabilitation change vocal behavior in anticipation of feeding," The article can be downloaded free from the link below:
*Ramos, E. A., Brady, B., Lasala, J. A., Liebschner, A., Obbink, S., Walker, Z., Rebello, M., & Magnasco, M. O. (2023). Antillean manatee calves in captive rehabilitation change vocal behavior in anticipation of feeding. Zoo Biology, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21785 <https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21785> * https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/zoo.21785 *Abstract * Captive animals typically develop anticipatory behaviors, actions of increased frequency done in anticipation of an event such as feeding. Anticipatory behaviors can be an indicator of an animal's welfare. However, for rehabilitating animals that are expected to be reintroduced into the wild, these behaviors need to be extinguished to ensure successful release. Scheduled activities such as feeding occur daily and vocalizations could potentially be used to identify anticipatory behavior. Here, we tested the hypothesis that manatee calves modify their vocal production rate as a form of anticipatory behavior. Vocalizations of two Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) calves were recorded for 10 min before, during, and after feeding sessions at Wildtracks, a manatee rehabilitation center in Belize. The number of calls were counted across recording sessions and three acoustic parameters were measured from calls including duration, frequency modulation, and center frequency. A repeated measures ANOVA comparing the number of calls across sessions indicated manatees produced significantly more calls before feeding sessions than during and after sessions. In addition, manatees increased the duration and lowered the frequency of calls before feeding sessions. This information can give further insight on ways to improve rehabilitation protocols and manage human interactions to increase the overall survival rate of rehabilitated manatees when released back into the wild. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me at eric.angel.ra...@gmail.com Best regards, *Eric Angel Ramos, Ph.D.* Postdoctoral Research Associate at The University of Vermont Scientist at FINS (Fundación Internacional para la Naturaleza y la Sustentabilidad) Member of the IUCN SSC Sirenian Specialist Group for Mesoamerica www.finsconservation.org <https://finsconservation.org/> E-mail: eric.angel.ra...@gmail.com Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/ericangelramos> | Twitter <https://twitter.com/EricAngelRamos> | Instagram <https://www.instagram.com/eric.angel.ramos/> ResearchGate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric_Ramos> | ORCiD <https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4803-3170> | LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-angel-ramos-aa9b4915/>
_______________________________________________ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
