Dear colleagues, I’m happy to announce our new publication:
Jaakkola, K. (2024). Minding the minds: A primer on cognitive challenge
for marine mammals in human care. Animals, 14, 949.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14060949
Abstract:
The past several decades have witnessed significant improvement in the
physical welfare of marine mammals in zoos and aquariums. Over that same
time period, research has revealed complex cognitive abilities in at
least some of these species, yet there has been comparatively little
attention paid to addressing their cognitive welfare per se. Studies
primarily conducted with terrestrial animals have suggested that
providing appropriate cognitive challenges in managed care settings can
improve animal well-being. As a step toward facilitating this practice
with marine mammals, this paper discusses factors relevant for creating
appropriate cognitive challenges, outlines the three major categories of
cognitive challenge that have been utilized with marine mammals, along
with the logistical pros and cons of each, and calls on organizations
that care for marine mammals to cultivate a bias for action with respect
to providing cognitive care.
The paper is open access, available here:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/14/6/949
All the best,
Kelly
Kelly Jaakkola, PhD
Director of Research
Dolphin Research Center
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