Environmental Influences on Space Utilisation and the Activity Budget of Captive Leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) in Five Zoos in Southern India

Abstract

A behavioural study was conducted on leopards in five zoos situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Mysore and Bangalore between November 1998 and March 1999. Twenty six leopards were studied in five zoos of which sixteen were singly housed and ten were housed in groups. There were 16 males and 10 females. Only three of the 26 animals were captive born, 10 were captive reared and 13 were wild caught. Fourteen singly housed leopards were studied in on-exhibit and off exhibit enclosures on days with visitor presence and also on zoo holidays, two singly housed leopards were studied in the off-exhibit enclosures only. The group of ten at Bannerghatta Zoological Gardens, Bangalore was studied only in the on exhibit enclosure. Scan sampling method was used to record the behavioural patterns in leopards. The ethogram, which consists of all behaviour observed in five zoos lists 12 behavioural states and 29 behavioural events. The leopard enclosures were divided into imaginary blocks and the utilisation of these grids by the leopard was recorded alongwith behaviour at five-minute intervals. . Each leopard was studied for two days on-exhibit. two days off-exhibit and one zoo holiday. The leopard at Childrens' Park. Guindy was also studied for two excess visitor days during the Pongal festival. Information on each leopard was obtained from zoo records. No significant difference in behaviour was observed between males and females. and wild caught and captive-reared individuals. The behavioural repertoire of female leopards was significantly associated with their period of anoestrus. Stereotypic pacing was found to increase with enclosure size. Leopards housed in larger enclosures exhibited higher levels of activity and stereotypy behaviour. Smaller enclosures housed leopards that rested for longer proportions of time. Activity and resting behaviour peaks in the daily activity budget of the leopards were due to their crepuscular nature. The peaks in stereotypic behaviour in the daily activity budget were influenced by zookeepers' presence. Food-anticipatory behaviour was observed in all leopards before and during feed time. Individuals that were studied on-exhibit and off-exhibit exhibited higher levels of stereotypic behaviour off-exhibit and higher levels of activity behaviour on-exhibit. The presence of visitors also influences the behaviour repertoire of captive leopards. All singly housed leopards studied on days with visitor presence and zoo holidays exhibited higher levels of activity on zoo holidays and higher levels of resting behaviour on days with the presence of visitors. Six individuals were studied singly and then as pairs. The proportion of activity and resting behaviour exhibited when they were housed in pairs was higher and stereotypic behaviour, though not statistically significant, was lower than when they were singly housed. The utilisation of space differed between singly and group-housed leopards. Singly housed individuals utilised the "edge" and "back" zones of their enclosures more and the sructurally "enrich" zone less than group-housed leopards. Most of the leopards utilised the "edges" of their enclosure for stereotyping. the "back" zone for resting and the "rest" of the enclosure for activity behaviour. The structural features found within the enclosures that housed leopards were of two categories; sleeping platforms. trees and sheds that stimulated resting behaviour and logs. snags and tree trunks that stimulated activity behaviour. In enclosures that were structurally enriched with sleeping platforms, sheds or trees, leopards utilised the "enrich" zone of the enclosure for resting instead of the "back" zone. Enclosures having logs and snags. the "enrich" zones is utilised to exhibit activity behaviour. The utilisation of the structurally enriched zones of the enclosures was positively correlated with enclosure complexity. Leopards in structurally enriched enclosures exhibited higher levels of activity and lower levels of resting than the barren enclosures The factors that were found to influence the behavioural repertoire of captive leopards have been taken into consideration while recommending environmental enrichment techniques for the renovations of old enclosures and the construction of new ones.