From Ethogram to Flow: Behavioral Time Budgets and Transition Networks in Female Harbor Seals Under Human Care
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We quantified how exhibit design and routine management shape behavior and space use in captive harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Using a species-specific ethogram, scan sampling and focal follows on adult females housed in a modern zoo exhibit, we estimated time budgets, mapped space use across depth-defined zones, and modeled behavior sequences as first-order transition networks. Locomotion dominated activity (swimming/active travel), with resting and enrichment-related behaviors next most frequent; social and play behaviors occurred at low but non-negligible rates. Seals showed clear depth preferences, concentrating active swimming in deeper zones and using liminal/shallow areas for rest. Transition graphs revealed stable, low-entropy loops (e.g., swim → turn/pace → swim) consistent with repetitive locomotor routines, while enrichment and feeding windows temporarily diversified sequences and increased exploration. Overall, integrating time budgets with Markov-style transition analysis and spatial heatmaps provides a compact welfare-oriented dashboard: it identifies where exhibit depth and refuge availability support positive behavioral diversity, flags repetitive cycles as targets for enrichment, and offers actionable metrics to evaluate husbandry changes over time.
DOI: 10.3390/jzbg6040064
Authors: Marco Briguori, Pietro Carlino, Chiara Carpino, Gianni Giglio, Francesco Luigi Leonetti, Viviana Romano, Roberta Castiglioni, Emilio Sperone
Institution: University of Calabria
Language: English
Subfield: Small Animals
Field: Veterinary
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,207
OpenAlex ID: W4417426414