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Coping with female aggression – adaptive husbandry of captive kea at Vienna University
Tamsin Orr-Walker, Dr Gyula Gajdon and Dr Lorne Roberts
Aggression between captive female kea is of particular concern in facilities throughout New Zealand. As a result of this aggression a number of females have died or displayed high levels of stereotypic behaviour; an indicator of prolonged stress. Finding effective ways to manage this issue is therefore vitally important if multiple females are to reside together in the future. So what triggers aggression between females in captivity? The answer may be found in the behaviour of the species in the wild. Territories of breeding pairs are large (an estimated 4km2), and although males are often seen to visit the nest cavities of breeding pairs, females have never been recorded visiting to date. This would suggest that female kea of breeding age naturally do not interact and, when forced to reside together in captivity, stress, injury or even death results. If this is the case, how can multiple females be managed successfully in captivity without it becoming a welfare concern? And if it is not possible to hold multiple females together, how can the captive group maintain a genetically viable population with relatively few NZ facilities? The answer may be in some clever adaptive husbandry as demonstrated by Vienna University. Vienna has held kea in its department of cognition kea lab since early 2000 (a facility run in co-operation of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, and the University of Vienna). The department has held their current 16 kea (7 female and 9 male) as a substantial flock in a large 52m L x 10m W x 4m H enclosure since 2010. Prior to 2007, the kea group consisted mainly of males. In 2007 seven female chicks joined the group in a much smaller aviary (10m x 15m x 3m). Shortly after moving to the new aviary in 2010, the oldest females starting showing evidence of breeding behaviour and became increasingly aggressive towards other females. The solution to minimize this aggression? The aviary was adapted to allow separation of breeding pairs for the duration of the breeding season. The entire kea enclosure is made up of seven separate sections. At either end of the aviary are two breeding compartments (4m x10m), then two experimental compartments (7m x10m) followed by three 10m x10m compartments. All compartments can be separated by sliding wire-mesh walls, however for the majority of the time the kea have access to a central area of 44m x 10m. As well as provision of a space which is multifunctional and can easily be manipulated into separate areas, enrichment and sight barriers are also an integral part of the enclosure design. Additionally fluid husbandry practices are the norm; acknowledging the fluidity of kea group dynamics and the likelihood that ‘no set system is likely to run smoothly forever’. The term ‘interactive building’ was coined by Dr Gyula Gajdon to describe the university’s method of managing their birds; an item, environmental alteration or management option is presented to the birds and their reaction noted. If it is seen to benefit the birds, it continues to be utilised – if it is seen to have no clear benefit to the birds, it is discarded. Additionally if a behaviour which may be useful to the management of the group is observed, then it is built on until such time as it is no longer useful. This can be difficult in enclosures which are not easily adapted, ie. those enclosures that have a specific theme or were designed to
The kea team at Vienna University
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