INACTIVITY AT NIGHT: A CASE STUDY OF THE NOCTURNAL BEHAVIORS OF TWO CAPTIVE Panthera onca (FELIDAE) SPECIMENS

Abstract

Inactivity is a common daytime behavior expressed by wild cats in zoos. It is not clear whether this inactivity is due to the constraints of the captive environment or is a result of a more natural behavior by these animals. Therefore, this work evaluated the behavior of two Panthera oncacaptive specimens, including their inactivity, during the evening/night period. The jaguars were filmed individually in different days, starting at 5:30 pm and finishing between 7:00 pm and 1:30 am, including non-feeding and feeding days. Regardless of whether they were fed or not, both jaguars expressed a significant rate of inactivity. In addition, when fed, one of the jaguars increased its movements and active behaviors, although its inactivity remained high, while the other jaguar further reduced the expression of such behaviors. Therefore, this work concludes that these jaguars were just as inactive during the evening/night period as they were during daytime. Excessive inactivity might be regarded as a negative behavior; with its highest expression being an effect of the captive environment, which might compromise the welfare of the assessed jaguars and possibly of other wild cats. In addition, since the behavioral expression varied between the studied jaguars, depending on the feeding or non-feeding status, we recommend that futures studies should taking into account the individual variations, especially when there are differences in age, health, and management conditions between the specimens.

Keywords

• caged mammals
• felid behavior
• jaguars
• zoo animals