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Review
. 2022 Sep 6:9:972217.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.972217. eCollection 2022.

Space, time, and context drive anticipatory behavior: Considerations for understanding the behavior of animals in human care

Bethany L Krebs  1 , Karli R Chudeau  2 , Caitlin L Eschmann  1 , Celina W Tu  2 , Eridia Pacheco  2 , Jason V Watters  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Space, time, and context drive anticipatory behavior: Considerations for understanding the behavior of animals in human care

Bethany L Krebs et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Animal-based measures reflecting the welfare state of individuals are critical for ensuring the well-being of animals under human care. Anticipatory behavior is one potential animal-based measure that has gained traction in recent years, as it is theorized to relate to animals' reward sensitivity. It is of particular interest as an assessment for animals living under human care, as the predictability of the captive environment lends itself to the development of this class of behaviors. Animals are likely to exhibit anticipation in locations related to the anticipated event, often in temporally predictable time frames, and before specific contexts they experience in their day-to-day management. In this sense and under certain circumstances, anticipatory behaviors are likely to drive observed behavioral or space use patterns of animals under human care. Drawing conclusions from such data without identifying anticipation may result in misleading conclusions. Here we discuss how space, time, and context are related to patterns of anticipatory behaviors in animals under human care, how unidentified anticipation may alter conclusions regarding animal behavior or welfare under certain circumstances.

Keywords: animal welfare; reward sensitivity; welfare assessment; welfare indicator; zoo animal.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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