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Fiona Shuttleworth, parliamentary veterinary intern to Lord Trees, discusses the three welfare-related Private Members' Bills drawn from the ballot last month and what they might mean if they become law., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

We had an incredible response to our committee vacancies this year. In this special 'Meet the team', we welcome the new members of our Policy Committee and our Ethics and Welfare Advisory Panel., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

Advocates argue that automated collection of data, and AI analysis of it, could help vets make the practical decisions that improve the health and welfare of animals., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

Regulatory studies have revolutionised over time. Today, the focus has shifted from animal toxicity testing to non-animal for regulatory safety testing. This move is in line with the international 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) principle and has also changed the regulator's perspective. The 3R principle has stimulated changes in policy, regulations, and new approaches to safety assessment in drug development in many countries. The 3Rs approach has led to the discovery and application of new technologies and more human-relevant in vitro approaches that minimise the use of animals including non-human primates, in research and improve animal welfare. In 2016, the European Medicines Agency published the Guidelines on the principles of regulatory acceptance of 3Rs testing approaches, followed by a conceptual paper in 2023 to align with current 3R standards. Additionally, the United States Food and Drug Administration passed new legislation in 2023 that no longer requires all new human drugs to be tested on animals, which will change the current testing paradigm. This review paper provides the adoption of the 3Rs and the current regulatory perspective regarding their implementation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Johnson Stanslas reports administrative support was provided by PutraMalaysia University. Johnson Stanslas reports a relationship with Putra Malaysia University that includes: employment. Johnson Stanslas has patent pending to Not applicable. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cow-calf systems represent a significant research area in animal husbandry, with differences depending on the final product (meat or milk). This study aimed to apply text mining and topic analysis on literature describing cow-calf systems in European, American, and Brazilian beef and dairy sectors between 1998 and 2023. Additionally, cow-calf contact (CCC) literature data was manually extracted. Our findings revealed the presence of 11 research areas among literature on cow-calf systems, with different priorities identified in the beef and dairy sectors. Beef industry mainly focused on animal proficiency and nutrition, while dairy on animal welfare and CCC, which showed a growing trend as emerging research topic, mostly in the EU. Current debates around calf welfare and EU's planned animal welfare legislation revision appeared to be driving the increasing interest in this topic. Studies in the beef sector were mainly localized in Brazil, showing that research in different contexts and species is important for CCC implementation. Manual data extraction showed considerable variation in the retained CCC documents regarding sample size, type of contact, methods and CCC duration. Learning about the varied CCC approaches used in beef and dairy farms in different locations, concentrating on their strengths and weaknesses, will help to develop novel solutions to global challenges. Adopting validated and robust indicators would help scientists and policymakers to monitor the system's quality. To improve CCC feasibility, match consumer demands, and move towards One Welfare and One Health, future research should focus on a variety of situations to overcome the current shortcomings., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Project financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research PRIN 2022 Brscic grant 2022YNENCK entitled “The Caring Dairy: promoting prolonged cow-calf contact in nature based animal production systems”. Marta Brscic is serwing as reviewer for the journal that we are submitting to. She declares there are no conflict of interests. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

What are farrowing crates and why are they controversial? Are memories of welfare improvements 25 years ago preventing UK farmers from moving away from the crating of sows for as long as five weeks at a time? Have farrowing crates, which were first introduced more than half a century ago, had their day? If so, what might replace them? Josh Loeb investigates., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

Steven McCulloch argues that the global intensive pig farming industry does not meet the welfare needs of pigs and that the veterinary profession should and must withdraw all support., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

Fiona Shuttleworth, parliamentary veterinary intern to Lord Trees, discusses what may be on the new government's agenda - despite the omission of animal health and welfare from both its manifesto and introductory King's speech., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

Nonhuman animals used in biomedical research frequently suffer and are harmed as part of their use as experimental models. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of a given institution is meant to ensure that research protocols follow federal guidelines, but research protocols such as those described in this case can generate unnecessary suffering; this problem suggests limitations of IACUCs' capacity to protect nonhuman animals' welfare. This commentary on the case considers how to more fully protect nonhuman animals used in scientific research and identifies barriers to more comprehensive protection of nonhuman animals' welfare., (Copyright 2024 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.)

Background: Walking ability is a highly important animal-based indicator of welfare in broilers that warrants monitoring across commercial production., Methods: A review of the technical and scientific literature on existing methods for assessing walking ability in broilers was conducted, and the reliability, validity and feasibility of the different methods were assessed when relevant information was available., Results: Visual gait scoring has high validity, minimal equipment needs and is relatively quick to perform; however, this method is subjective and requires extensive training. Due to this, more objective tests, such as the latency to lie test, have been developed, although more validation of these tests is required. Other identified methods, such as obstacle courses, the rotarod test and kinetic and kinematic approaches, require considerable amounts of equipment, making them impractical for use during on-farm inspections. Automated methods that rely on movement or activity data have potential for future development but currently lack the resolution of traditional gait scoring and require equipment such as cameras or accelerometers., Conclusions: Objective, seemingly valid, repeatable and feasible options exist for the assessment of walking ability that would facilitate the monitoring of commercial broiler welfare; however, more validation of these methods is required, especially in commercial farm settings., (© 2024 The Author(s). Veterinary Record published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Veterinary Association.)

Because of their ubiquity, plasticity, and direct effects on the nervous system, markers of oxidative status may be of great value to assess animal welfare across species and conditions in the wild. However, welfare biologists have not yet seized this opportunity, possibly because the validity of these markers as welfare indicators remains questionable. A validation process was, therefore, performed here using a meta-analytical approach considering three conditions assumed to impair the welfare of animals. With very few exceptions, two of the four considered markers consistently varied across these negatively-valenced conditions. By highlighting the current underrepresentation of markers of oxidative status in animal welfare studies, and by concretely illustrating that some of these markers can consistently reflect negative affective states, this article aims to encourage biologists to include these physiological markers in their toolbox to better measure, monitor, and perhaps also improve the welfare of animals in their natural habitat., (© 2024 The Author(s). BioEssays published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Georgina Mills discusses new guidance advising against using dog breeds with extreme conformation in advertising., (© 2024 British Veterinary Association.)

There is considerable variation in the recommended minimum space allowance for growing pigs in scientific literature, and growing pressure, arising from recent reviews of current animal welfare standards for pigs, to increase the minimum space allowances set in legislation in some countries (e.g., European Union countries and New Zealand). The space provided for growing pigs needs to accommodate their physical body size in addition to social behaviour, activity, and essential functional behaviours. However, recommended minimum space allowances vary according to criteria such as temperature, live weight, flooring type, group size, behaviour, and enrichment availability. Though there may be justification for increasing current space requirements, this will present a practical issue on existing farms and could even result in unintended negative welfare outcomes, depending on how farmers address an increased requirement for space. This is not helped by inconsistent scientific approaches to assessing the effect of space on pig performance, and a lack of information on how space allowance impacts a pig's affective state. This review explores the scientific basis of the most common approaches to determining minimum space allowances for growing pigs and discusses the various factors that influence and interact with their spatial requirements. Consideration is given to their nutrition, physical environment, health, and behaviour to understand the welfare, performance, and practicality implications of differing recommendations for space allowance. More research is needed that investigates a range of space allowances to better understand the relationship between animal welfare and performance outcomes, and space allowance. This must replicate commercial conditions so that recommendations are relevant, future-focused, and achieve positive welfare outcomes in a practical but meaningful manner., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In their target article, John et al. make a convincing case that there is a unified phenomenon behind the common finding that measures become worse targets over time. Here, we will apply their framework to the domain of animal welfare science and present a pragmatic solution to reduce its impact that might also be applicable in other domains.

The US dairy industry has made great strides in improving animal health over many decades, which has driven substantial improvements in economic, social, and environmental sustainability. As consumer and corporate focus on climate continues to grow, the continued need to research and improve animal health and understand its connection with the environment is integral to the success of the dairy industry. Research to address these areas can be supported by national research programs and collaboration between them. The USDA and Dairy Management Inc established a collaborative research agreement in 2007; to date, this collaboration has not explicitly focused on animal health or its intersection with the environment. It is integral to the success of animal agriculture in an ever-changing sustainability landscape that animal health is addressed as a key piece of socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. An academic-industry stakeholder committee reached a consensus that supported this idea and identified that it is equally important to communicate these research findings with consumers in a way that resonates. The purpose of this Viewpoint article is to highlight that national research programs at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's National Animal Disease Center and Dairy Management Inc can and should play an important role in supporting and facilitating research at the intersection of animal health and sustainability broadly.

The ability to apply findings from animal studies efficiently and effectively is predicated on an understanding of biology and pathobiology, how that biology relates to the human systems being modeled, and how the studies are conducted and reported. This overview discusses various factors in research within the animal environment (referred to as extrinsic factors) that the NIH now expects to be documented to foster replicability in science and expand interpretations of study outcomes. Specifically, an important extrinsic factor in research with animals is that of individual personnel who perform handling practices, participate in research interactions, and share an overall presence in the housing facility with animals, all of which can confound reproducibility efforts in biomedical science. An improved understanding of the influences and behaviors of animal research personnel on animal responses is critical with regard to research results and the interpretation of data collected from animal models of biomedical disease.

On 1 January 2013, research using cephalopod molluscs, from hatchlings to adults, became regulated within Directive 2010/63/EU. There are significant difficulties in captive breeding in the great majority of currently utilised species. Thus, scientific research relies upon the use of wild-caught animals. Furthermore, live cephalopods are shared and transported between different stakeholders and laboratories across Europe and other continents. Despite existing European and national legislation, codes, guidelines and reports from independent organisations, a set of recommendations specifically addressing the requirements for the capture and transport of animals belonging to this taxon are missing. In addition, although training and development of competence for all people involved in the supply chain are essential and aim to ensure that animals do not suffer from pain, distress or lasting harm, the requirements for those capturing and transporting wild cephalopods have not been considered. This Working Group reviewed the current literature to recognise scientific evidence and the best practice, and compiled a set of recommendations to provide guidance on the 'techniques' to be used for the capture and transport of live cephalopods for their use in scientific procedures. In addition, we propose to (a) develop standardised approaches able to assess recommended methods and objectively quantify the impact of these processes on animals' health, welfare and stress response, and (b) design a training programme for people attaining the necessary competence for capture and transportation of live cephalopods, as required by Directive 2010/63/EU., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Following a review of Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific pur­poses in the European Union (EU), non-technical project summaries (NTS) of all approved projects must be published in a central database using a standard template. Our initial review of the NTS reported in ALTEX in 2018 had found the NTS to be deficient in their accessibility and quality, notably the “adverse effects” section where the harms to the animals are meant to be described. Here we repeat our review to see if these legislative changes have improved the accessibility and quality of the NTS. As before, we focused on the NTS from the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany; even though the UK has left the EU, it is using the same template. We found significant improvement in the reporting of five of the six elements we identified as essential to the “predicted harms” section. However, there was no significant improvement in the reporting of adverse effects. Only 41% of German NTS and 48% of UK NTS are fully reporting this important element of the “predicted harms” section. In our view, researchers need support in describing the impact of their research on the animals and to assist here we include a checklist for competent authorities and a list of suggested terminology for standard administration and sampling procedures. Unless the NTS improve further, their utility as a tool for sharing of good practices in the 3Rs or to support evidence-based policy­making will remain limited.

Supply chains are already incorporating citizen/consumer demands for improved animal welfare, especially through product differentiation and the associated segmentation of markets. Nonetheless, the ability of the chain to deliver high(er) levels and standards of animal welfare is subject to two critical conditions: (a) the innovative and adaptive capacity of the chain to respond to society’s demands; (b) the extent to which consumers actually purchase animal-friendly products. Despite a substantial literature reporting estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for animal welfare, there is a belief that in practice people vote for substantially more and better animal welfare as citizens than they are willing to pay for as consumers. This citizen-consumer gap has significant consequences on the supply chain, although there is limited literature on the capacity and willingness of supply chains to deliver what the consumer wants and is willing to pay for. This paper outlines an economic analysis of supply chain delivery of improved standards for farm animal welfare in the EU and illustrates the possible consequences of improving animal welfare standards for the supply chain using a prototype belief network analysis.

Providing environmental enrichments that increase environmental complexity can benefit poultry welfare. This Poultry Science Association symposium paper is structured around four themes on 1) poultry preferences and affective states 2) species-specific behavior, including play behavior and the relationship between behavior, activity level and walking ability, 3) environmental enrichment and its relationship with indicators of welfare, and 4) a case study focusing on the application of enrichments in commercial broiler chicken production. For effective enrichment strategies, the birds' perspective matters most, and we need to consider individual variation, social dynamics, and previous experience when assessing these strategies. Play behavior can be a valuable indicator of positive affect, and while we do not yet know how much play would be optimal, absence of play suggests a welfare deficit. Activity levels and behavior can be improved by environmental modifications and prior research has shown that the activity level of broilers can be increased, at least temporarily, by increasing the environmental complexity. However, more research on impacts of enrichments on birds' resilience, on birds in commercial conditions, and on slow(er)-growing strains is needed. Finally, incorporating farmers' expertise can greatly benefit enrichment design and implementation on commercial farms., Competing Interests: DISCLOSURES The authors have no conflict of interest., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Supply chains are already incorporating citizen/consumer demands for improved animal welfare, especially through product differentiation and the associated segmentation of markets. Nonetheless, the ability of the chain to deliver high(er) levels and standards of animal welfare is subject to two critical conditions: (a) the innovative and adaptive capacity of the chain to respond to society's demands; (b) the extent to which consumers actually purchase animal-friendly products. Despite a substantial literature reporting estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for animal welfare, there is a belief that in practice people vote for substantially more and better animal welfare as citizens than they are willing to pay for as consumers. This citizen-consumer gap has significant consequences on the supply chain, although there is limited literature on the capacity and willingness of supply chains to deliver what the consumer wants and is willing to pay for. This paper outlines an economic analysis of supply chain delivery of improved standards for farm animal welfare in the EU and illustrates the possible consequences of improving animal welfare standards for the supply chain using a prototype belief network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We address the conditions for civilizing the market of welfare friendly foods. [•] We address the controversies about the definition of what is animal welfare. [•] From an STS perspective we argue that the Welfare Quality® protocol is a techno-ethical device. [•] We discuss the contribution of this market to changes in animal welfare science and politics in Europe. [•] We present a case of welfare assessment of free-range chickens with the Welfare Quality® protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legitimacy of the dominant intensive meat production system with respect to the issue of animal welfare is increasingly being questioned by stakeholders across the meat supply chain. The current meat supply is highly undifferentiated, catering only for the extremes of morality concerns (i.e., conventional vs. organic meat products). However, a latent need for compromise products has been identified. That is, consumer differences exist regarding the trade-offs they make between different aspects associated with meat consumption. The heterogeneity in consumer demand could function as a starting point for market segmentation, targeting and positioning regarding animal welfare concepts that are differentiated in terms of animal welfare and price levels. Despite this, stakeholders in the meat supply chain seem to be trapped in the dominant business model focused on low cost prices. This paper aims to identify conflicting interests that stakeholders in the meat supply chain experience in order to increase understanding of why heterogeneous consumer preferences are not met by a more differentiated supply of meat products produced at different levels of animal welfare standards. In addition, characteristics of the supply chain that contribute to the existence of high exit barriers and difficulty to shift to more animal-friendly production systems are identified. Following the analysis of conflicting interests among stakeholders and factors that contribute to difficulty to transform the existing dominant regime, different routes are discussed that may help and motivate stakeholders to overcome these barriers and stimulate the creation of new markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to assess the current status of famers' perceptions of animal welfare and technical efficiency in broiler farms using a stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). In this study, 355 farms registered in Heilongjiang Province, China were surveyed, with 240 of them responding. The results showed that 75% of farmers recognize the importance of animal welfare, and 56.3% of them expressed their willingness to implement animal welfare on their farms without conditions or having a negative attitude. The technical efficiency of the farmers' ranged from 55% to 99%. All the variables assessed in this study had a statistical influence on production. Education, experience, and gender of farmers were significant variables and increased efficiency, while age and distance of a farm to the main road increased inefficiency. Based on our survey, we suggest that the implementation of animal welfare measures will require government subsidy or incentive, which could encourage 35% of farmers to implement animal welfare measures. To increase production efficiently, farmer needs to control the mortality rate, but the contribution of vaccine during production is below 1% (0.09%).

Abstract: The way production animals are treated is a matter of public concern, and public opinion is often a driving force to introduce new animal welfare legislation. In Norway, a Council on Animal Ethics has been appointed by the authorities since 1993. The composition of the council is broad and it encounters both lay people and experts. The council is independent and advisory, only. It shall be a “guard dog” and follow the developments in animal production and other areas where man makes use of animals, and give advice to the authorities on the need for change in legislation and administrative practices. An important task for the council is also to contribute to and facilitate an informed public debate on animal welfare standards and animal ethics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Pen enrichment for broiler chickens is one of the potential strategies to stimulate locomotion and consequently contribute to better leg health and welfare. This study was designed to evaluate effects of using a plethora of pen enrichments (barrier perches, angular ramps, horizontal platforms, large distance between feed and water and providing live Black Soldier fly larvae in a dustbathing area) on tibia characteristics, locomotion, leg health and home pen behaviour of fast and slower-growing broiler chickens. The experiment was set up as a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement with a total of 840 male broiler chickens in a complete randomized design (7 pens per treatment and 30 chickens per pen) with the following treatments: 1) pen enrichment (enriched pen or non-enriched pen); 2) broiler strain (fast-growing Ross 308 or slower-growing Hubbard JA 757). Home pen behaviour and use of enrichment were observed. At approximately 1400 and 2200 g body weight, two chickens per pen were randomly selected and slaughtered, to investigate tibia morphological, biophysical and mechanical characteristics and leg health. Pen enrichment positively affected tibia biophysical characteristics, e.g., osseous volume (Δ = 1.8 cm3, P = 0.003), total volume (Δ = 1.4 cm3, P = 0.03) and volume fraction (Δ = 0.02%, P = 0.002), in both fast and slower-growing chickens, suggesting that pen enrichment particularly affects ossification and mineralization mechanisms. Accordingly, locomotion and active behaviours were positively influenced by pen enrichment. However, pen enrichment resulted in lower body weight gain in both strains, which might be due to higher activity or lower feed intake as a result of difficulties of crossing the barrier perches. Regarding the strain, slower-growing chickens showed consistently more advanced tibia characteristics and more active behaviour than fast-growing chickens. It can be concluded that pen enrichment may lead to more activity and better bone development in both fast and slower-growing chickens., Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interests: The study was funded by commercial companies Darling Ingredients Inc., Marel Stork Poultry Processing BV, Trouw Nutrition, and Nutreco. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials

One response to calls for increased openness in animal research is to make protocols publicly accessible, but it is unclear what type of input the public would provide if given this opportunity. In this study we invited public responses to five different research projects, using non-technical summaries intended for lay audiences. Our aim was to assess the potential for this type of public consultation in protocol review, and a secondary aim was to better understand what types of animal research people are willing to accept and why. US participants (n = 1521) were asked (via an online survey) "Do you support the use of these (insert species) for this research", and responded using a seven-point scale (1 = "No", 4 = "Neutral", and 7 = "Yes"). Participants were asked to explain the reasons for their choice; open-ended text responses were subjected to thematic analysis. Most participants (89.7%) provided clear comments, showing the potential of an online forum to elicit feedback. Four themes were prevalent in participant reasoning regarding their support for the proposed research: 1) impact on animals, 2) impact on humans, 3) scientific merit, and 4) availability of alternatives. Participant support for the proposed research varied but on average was close to neutral (mean ± SD: 4.5 ± 2.19) suggesting some ambivalence to this animal use. The protocol describing Parkinson's research (on monkeys) was least supported (3.9 ± 2.17) and the transplant research (on pigs) was most supported (4.9 ± 2.02). These results indicate that public participants are sensitive to specifics of a protocol. We conclude that an online forum can provide meaningful public input on proposed animal research, offering research institutions the opportunity for improved transparency and the chance to reduce the risk that they engage in studies that are out of step with community values., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Seoul National University (SNU) plays a key role in monitoring and managing the humane use of animals in scientific research. Here, as one of the pioneers of the IACUC in Korea, we reported SNU-IACUC operations and activities including committee establishment and legal formulation, protocol review, and post-approval monitoring of protocols, which the IACUC has undertaken in the last decade. In addition, legal regulations and improvements were also discussed, and encompassed the limited number of committee members and the single IACUC policy in Korea. As of December, 2020, amendments are on the table at the National Assembly. We also emphasized the independent nature of the IACUC in protecting activities, including approval and monitoring animal experiments, and its public role in narrowing the knowledge gap between society and scientists. Thus, the aim of this report is to help society and scientists understand the operations of the SNU-IACUC and its role in animal welfare.

Cetaceans are long-lived, social species that are valued as ambassadors inspiring the public to engage in conservation action. Under professional care, they are critical partners with the scientific community to understanding the biology, behavior, physiology, health, and welfare requirements of this taxonomic group. The Cetacean Welfare Study was a highly collaborative research effort among zoos and aquariums accredited by the Alliance for Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and/or the Association of Zoos & Aquariums that provided important empirical and comparative information on the care and management of cetaceans. The goal was to identify factors that were related to the welfare of bottlenose dolphins and to develop reference intervals and values for common and novel indicators of health and welfare for common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas), and Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens). Data were collected from cetaceans at 43 accredited zoos and aquariums in seven countries in 2018 and 2019. This overview presents a summary of findings from the initial research articles that resulted from the study titled "Towards understanding the welfare of cetaceans in zoos and aquariums." With multiple related objectives, animal-based metrics were used to advance frameworks of clinical care and target key conditions that were associated with good welfare of cetaceans in zoo and aquarium environments. As a result of this collaboration, species-specific reference intervals and values for blood variables and fecal hormone metabolites were developed and are freely available in an iOS application called ZooPhysioTrak. The results suggested that environmental enrichment programs and social management factors were more strongly related to behaviors likely indicative of positive welfare than habitat characteristics for common and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. These findings can be widely applied to optimize care and future science-based welfare practice., Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy, and the authors of the study have the following competing interests to declare: LJM and LKL are affiliated with the Chicago Zoological Society – Brookfield Zoo (an AZA and AMMPA accredited zoo), and Chicago Zoological Society provides a salary for LJM. Before the study, JDM was previously affiliated with Disney’s Animal Kingdom (an AZA accredited zoo). The Seas® Epcot® Walt Disney World® Resort, Dolphin Island – Resorts World Sentosa, and Loro Parque and Loro Parque Fundación provided funding to the Chicago Zoological Society for this study. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare.