Do captive fish, amphibian and reptile species exhibit stress and stereotypic behaviour?
When held in captivity, fish, amphibian and reptile species do not exhibit the same sort of behaviour as mammals commonly do. Most aquatic vertebrate and (especially) invertebrate species have very limited territories in the wild, some no more than a square foot or less. Even most of the highly coloured species from coral reefs have very limited territories. Some species are born, feed, reproduce and die in an area no larger than a kitchen sink. As a result, being held in captivity does not necessarily represent a huge disruption to their habitual behaviour. In order to gain further understanding into this question, Nirah aims to conduct behavioural studies, where and when these are appropriate, with animals kept in environments replicating their natural biotopes as accurately and faithfully as possible.
