Comparing Data Collection Tools for Zoo Management Decision-Making: A Case Study Examining Behavioral Measures of Humboldt Penguin Bond Strength
Open accessAbstract
Systematic data collection has become increasingly important in zoos as it facilitates evidence-based decision-making. Here, we describe the results of a two-year study on exhibit use and pair-bonding in a colony of Humboldt penguins. We used two different data collection apps to evaluate their effectiveness and suitability for evaluating pair-bond strength. Data were collected using instantaneous scan sampling and all-occurrence sampling 2-3 times per week for 2 years for a total of nearly 240 h of observation (19 h with one system and 219 h with the other system). The activity patterns (in particular, time spent in the water) differed amongst penguins and between the two data collection tools. Patterns of courtship-related behaviors varied tremendously across individuals. The longer pairs had been bonded, the more time they spent in close proximity. We highlight two important considerations for institutions aiming to collect such systematic data. First, it is critical to interpret all findings in context by incorporating husbandry details and keeper insights to highlight explanations that may not be readily apparent from the data. Second, one must explore all aspects of any data collection system before committing to its use-system setup, ease of data collection, format and accessibility of exported data. Not doing so may negate the value of systematic data collection by limiting the use and interpretability of the data.
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The most frequent behavior observed was standing.
“The most frequent behavior we observed was standing, which is consistent with penguins in other studies [17,46,47].”
From The Benefits of Increased Space and Habitat Complexity for the Welfare of Zoo-Housed King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) (2023) · cites this paper as [47]
The cited paper’s Results (§3.1, page unavailable) report standing among the penguins’ recorded activities and say one pair spent significantly more time standing than other individuals. They do not establish that standing was the most frequent behavior overall, so the paper supports the comparison only in part. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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- Authors
- Galante, J., & Margulis, S. W.
- Affiliations
- Canisius College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Margulis, Susan W.
- ORCID
- Margulis, Susan W.
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-11-03
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 21
- Pages
- 3031
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9657121
- OpenAlex
- W4308200762
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 1.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- Humboldt penguin, Spheniscus magellanicus, pair bonding, systematic data collection, courtship behavior, husbandry, zoo animal welfare, evidence-based decision making
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