Patrones de comportamiento de ocelotes en estado de cautiverio (Leopardus Pardalis) con enriquecimientos ambientales en el hogar de paso de Corponor en Norte de Santander.

Abstract

The animal behavior in a natural way allows to act in an unknown situation and to overcome it without having previous knowledge of how to solve it; being in captivity its behavior can generate changes, therefore 4 specimens of Leopardus pardalis will be studied, in the home of CORPONOR in Norte de Santander. Initially, an ad libitum sampling will be carried out, in which everything that will be observed during an unplanned encounter will be noted; then we will work with the three stages of environmental enrichment: 1) Pre-enrichment environmental (Pre-EA), where the behavior of each specimen in the initial conditions of confinement will be recorded. 2) Environmental enrichment, in which adaptation to three types of enrichment will be carried out: sensory, nutritional and physical. 3) Post-environmental enrichment, the behavior will be analyzed by removing the types of enrichment provided in the previous stage. In each stage, observations will be made for 17 days, using the focal animal sampling technique. Among the results, it is possible to identify that there are relationships between the behaviors and the enrichment stages; in the pre-enrichment, sitting, licking, scratching and meowing behaviors were reflected; in the environmental enrichment, eating, resting, drinking and defecating; and in the post-enrichment, jumping, sitting, urinating and walking. During the percentage phase with environmental enrichment, a percentage reduction in the stereotypies exhibited by each individual was achieved: Individual 1: 14.95% stereotypy, reduced to 3.17% with enrichment; Individual 2: 8.41% stereotypy, reduced to 2.73% with stereotypy; Individual 3: 1.56% stereotypy, total elimination of the behavior; Individual 4: 0.84% stereotypy, total elimination of the behavior. Environmental enrichment ensures and comprehensively promotes adequate levels of well-being in captive individuals. It is recommended to implement these strategies routinely in zoos and wildlife rescue centers.