Can’t stop, won’t stop: is stereotypy a reliable animal welfare indicator?
Open accessAbstract
We estimate that stereotypies are currently displayed by over 85 million farm, laboratory and zoo animals worldwide. This paper investigates their reliability as welfare indicators, by surveying studies relating stereotypy to other welfare measures and by analysing the mechanisms underlying this behaviour. Where data exist, most (approximately 68%) situations that cause/increase stereotypies also decrease welfare. Stereotypy-eliciting situations are thus likely to be poor for welfare, although exceptions exist. Within such an environment, however, most (approximately 60%) accounts link individual stereotypy performance with improved welfare (cf approximately 20% linking it with reduced welfare). Thus, in a sub-optimal environment, non-stereotyping or low-stereotyping individuals could well have the poorest welfare, although again exceptions exist. Examining the mechanisms underlying stereotypy performance, we discuss four processes that could account for these complex links between stereotypy and welfare. Beneficial consequences from performing the specific source-behaviour of the stereotypy (‘do-it-yourself enrichment’), or arising from repetition per se (‘mantra effects’), may ameliorate welfare in poor environments. In addition, stereotypies that have become centrally controlled (habit-like), or that arise from autistic-like changes in the control of all behaviour (perseveration), are likely to be unreliable indicators of current state because they can be elicited by, or persist in, circumstances that improve welfare. To refine the role of stereotypy in welfare assessment, we suggest the collection of specific additional data to reveal when any of these four processes is acting. Until such research increases our understanding, stereotypies should always be taken seriously as a warning sign of potential suffering, but never used as the sole index of welfare; non-stereotyping or low-stereotyping individuals should not be overlooked or assumed to be faring well; simple measures of frequency should not be used to compare stereotypies that differ in age, form, or the biological or experiential characteristics of the performing animal; enrichments that do not immediately reduce stereotypies should not be assumed failures with respect to welfare; and finally, stereotypies should not be reduced by means other than tackling their underlying motivations.
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In farmed mink, stereotypy performance has been shown to be negatively correlated with glucocorticoid concentrations.
“For example, in farmed mink, stereotypy performance has been shown to be negatively correlated with glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations (see the review in Mason and Latham [60]).”
From The visitor effect on zoo animals: implications and opportunities for zoo animal welfare (2019) · cites this paper as [60]
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- Authors
- Mason, G., & Latham, N.
- Venue
- Animal Welfare
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2004-02
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- S1
- Pages
- S57-S69
- ISSN
- 0962-7286 (ISSN-L)
- 2054-1538
- OpenAlex
- W103775544
- Cited by
- 718
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 32 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 36
- FWCI
- 25.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Animal Welfare (publishedVersion)
- The Atrium (University of Guelph) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
- Directorate for Biological Sciences
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Pharmacology and Anesthesia
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Equine › Veterinary Equine Medical Research
- Keywords
- stereotypy, animal welfare indicators, welfare analysis, perseveration, habit formation, livestock, laboratory animals, zoo animals
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