Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care
Flight is part of the natural behaviours of most bird species, and as a consequence, flight restraint in zoos, even for those species that are primarily ground-dwelling, encounters increasing animal welfare concerns. While previous studies on greater flamingos (<i>Phoenicopterus roseus</i&g...
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2025-06-01
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| author | Frederike Liermann Katrin Baumgartner Ralph Simon Hermann Will Lorenzo von Fersen Roswitha Merle Christa Thöne-Reineke |
| author_facet | Frederike Liermann Katrin Baumgartner Ralph Simon Hermann Will Lorenzo von Fersen Roswitha Merle Christa Thöne-Reineke |
| author_sort | Frederike Liermann |
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| description | Flight is part of the natural behaviours of most bird species, and as a consequence, flight restraint in zoos, even for those species that are primarily ground-dwelling, encounters increasing animal welfare concerns. While previous studies on greater flamingos (<i>Phoenicopterus roseus</i>) and white pelicans (<i>Pelecanus onocrotalus</i>) have found no significant effects of flight restraint on welfare, scientific data on other species remains limited. This study investigated the welfare implications of flight restraint in white storks (<i>Ciconia ciconia</i>) by assessing feather corticosterone concentrations (CORTf) alongside behavioural observations. We compared CORTf values of deflighted zoo birds (<i>n</i> = 53) and hand-reared abandoned nestlings (<i>n</i> = 11) from eleven different zoos in Germany and storks in rehabilitation. These birds were wild individuals, found injured, and therefore provided an opportunity to collect feather samples (<i>n</i> = 70). In line with the 3R principle proposed by Russell and Burch, we employed a recently validated, less invasive feather sampling method that involves cutting feathers close to the skin. We hypothesised that CORTf would differ significantly between the wild, airworthy storks and the deflighted individuals under human care. However, we found no significant difference in CORTf regarding the ability to fly, nor did the method of flight restraint show a significant influence on CORTf. Housing facilities with significant site-specific variations emerged as the predominant factor influencing feather corticosterone concentrations. These results suggest that flight restraint does not have a noticeable direct impact on the corticosterone levels of white storks, and the behavioural observations support the reliability of these findings. This study enhances our understanding of the effects of deflighting procedures on the welfare of white storks in zoos. |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
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| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj-art-8d7e8bdbf3eb472e90371163fad6b9c32025-08-20T02:35:42ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-06-011513187810.3390/ani15131878Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human CareFrederike Liermann0Katrin Baumgartner1Ralph Simon2Hermann Will3Lorenzo von Fersen4Roswitha Merle5Christa Thöne-Reineke6Animal Behaviour and Laboratory Animal Science, Institute of Animal Welfare, Freie Universität Berlin, Königsweg 67, D-14163 Berlin, GermanyZoo Nuremberg, Am Tiergarten 30, D-90480 Nuremberg, GermanyZoo Nuremberg, Am Tiergarten 30, D-90480 Nuremberg, GermanyZoo Nuremberg, Am Tiergarten 30, D-90480 Nuremberg, GermanyZoo Nuremberg, Am Tiergarten 30, D-90480 Nuremberg, GermanyInstitute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Freie Universität Berlin, Königsweg 67, D-14163 Berlin, GermanyAnimal Behaviour and Laboratory Animal Science, Institute of Animal Welfare, Freie Universität Berlin, Königsweg 67, D-14163 Berlin, GermanyFlight is part of the natural behaviours of most bird species, and as a consequence, flight restraint in zoos, even for those species that are primarily ground-dwelling, encounters increasing animal welfare concerns. While previous studies on greater flamingos (<i>Phoenicopterus roseus</i>) and white pelicans (<i>Pelecanus onocrotalus</i>) have found no significant effects of flight restraint on welfare, scientific data on other species remains limited. This study investigated the welfare implications of flight restraint in white storks (<i>Ciconia ciconia</i>) by assessing feather corticosterone concentrations (CORTf) alongside behavioural observations. We compared CORTf values of deflighted zoo birds (<i>n</i> = 53) and hand-reared abandoned nestlings (<i>n</i> = 11) from eleven different zoos in Germany and storks in rehabilitation. These birds were wild individuals, found injured, and therefore provided an opportunity to collect feather samples (<i>n</i> = 70). In line with the 3R principle proposed by Russell and Burch, we employed a recently validated, less invasive feather sampling method that involves cutting feathers close to the skin. We hypothesised that CORTf would differ significantly between the wild, airworthy storks and the deflighted individuals under human care. However, we found no significant difference in CORTf regarding the ability to fly, nor did the method of flight restraint show a significant influence on CORTf. Housing facilities with significant site-specific variations emerged as the predominant factor influencing feather corticosterone concentrations. These results suggest that flight restraint does not have a noticeable direct impact on the corticosterone levels of white storks, and the behavioural observations support the reliability of these findings. This study enhances our understanding of the effects of deflighting procedures on the welfare of white storks in zoos.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/13/1878white storkfeather corticosteroneanimal welfareflight restraintzoological institutions |
| spellingShingle | Frederike Liermann Katrin Baumgartner Ralph Simon Hermann Will Lorenzo von Fersen Roswitha Merle Christa Thöne-Reineke Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care Animals white stork feather corticosterone animal welfare flight restraint zoological institutions |
| title | Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care |
| title_full | Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care |
| title_short | Effects of Flight Restraint and Housing Conditions on Feather Corticosterone in White Storks Under Human Care |
| title_sort | effects of flight restraint and housing conditions on feather corticosterone in white storks under human care |
| topic | white stork feather corticosterone animal welfare flight restraint zoological institutions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/13/1878 |
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