The Welfare of Domestic Goats (Capra hircus) in a Zoo-Based Animal-Visitor Interaction Program

We investigated whether the welfare of domestic goats in an animal-visitor interaction experience at a zoo was affected by the presence and behavior of visitors. We considered how the number of visitors in the goats’ habitat and visitor proximity to the goats impacted goat behavior. We also considered the goats’ behavior toward visitors, use of retreat space, and whether the visitors’ interaction style, specifically, how the visitors groomed the goats, was predictive of changes in the goats’ behavior. We conducted 29 hr of focal follows on 7 domestic goats (Capra hircus) at Lincoln Park Zoo, and analyzed data using mixed effects models. We found that goats preferred to be in the visitor yard as visitor numbers increased, and goat behaviors did not change as visitor numbers increased to the maximum allowed (16 people). There were no differences in rates of conspecific aggression or affiliation based on visitor presence or visitor interactions. However, there was a decrease in feeding and increase in self-maintenance behaviors specifically while visitors were in close proximity and interacting with goats. Furthermore, visitor-directed behavior, specifically head tossing, was more common when visitors groomed goats in an improper way. Overall, this study demonstrates that domestic goat welfare was relatively unaffected by the simple presence of visitors when maximum visitor limits were in place and retreat options were available, but that goats were sensitive to visitor interaction styles. These findings support the idea that domestic goats may be appropriate candidates for human-visitor interaction programs under specific conditions.

North Lake Shore Drive

This chapter focuses on the growing conception of the lakefront as an environmental amenity and the completion of Lake Shore Drive and associated parks. The chapter traces the construction north from the original Lincoln Park to Hollywood Avenue. It argues that the emerging clarification of ownership following the title to the bed of Lake Michigan set off a series of seismic disturbances along the lakeshore and laid the groundwork, legally speaking, for the construction of north Lake Shore Drive. The chapter examines the riparian rights of the private landowners farther north along Lake Michigan's shore. It illustrates how the Lincoln Park Commission (LPC) devised two methods for acquiring the riparian rights of landowners in order to extend Lincoln Park to the north. The chapter also introduces Edward O. Brown, a creative lawyer working for the LPC in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who conceived and advanced the ideas about the boundary-line mechanism and the judicial elimination of any right to wharf out in Lake Michigan. The chapter examines how Brown's skillful manipulation of the courts to eliminate the right to wharf out turned out to be a good thing.

Gaps in Live Inter-Observer Reliability Testing of Animal Behavior: A Retrospective Analysis and Path Forward

Observational behavior research is an important activity for zoos and aquariums, often being conducted to provide insights into welfare and guide management decisions. This research relies on standardized protocols to ensure consistent data collection. Inter-observer reliability, where untrained observers are tested against the behavior identifications of an expert observer, represent a critical internal validation process. Recent software advances have made reliability testing easier and more accessible, but there is limited guidance on what constitutes a strong reliability test. In this study, we reviewed historic reliability test data from Lincoln Park Zoo’s on-going behavior monitoring program. Six representative species were chosen that included 645 live pairwise reliability tests conducted across 163 total project observers. We identified that observers were being tested on only approximately 25% of the behaviors listed and defined in the species ethograms. Observers did encounter a greater percent of the ethogram with successive reliability tests, but this gap remained large. While inactive behaviors were well-represented during reliability tests, social and other non-maintenance solitary behaviors (e.g., exploratory, scent marking, play, etc.) did not frequently occur during tests. While the ultimate implications of these gaps in testing are unclear, these results highlight the risks of live reliability testing as an inherently non-standardized process. We suggest several approaches to help address these limitations, including refining ethograms, reconsidering criteria, and supplementing live training with video. We hope this self-critique encourages others to critically examine their methods, enhance the quality of their behavioral data, and ultimately, strengthen conclusions drawn about animal behavior and welfare.

Same Space, Different Species: The Influence of Exhibit Design on the Expression of Zoo-Housed Apes’ Species-Typical Retiring Behaviors

Wild chimpanzees frequently make arboreal nests, while wild lowland gorillas typically nest on the ground. We aimed to understand whether zoo-housed apes’ use of elevated spaces for retiring similarly differed between species and across exhibits. Using a pre-planned exhibit switch at Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, USA), we compared where (elevated or terrestrial) two groups of apes (Pan troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla gorilla) performed retiring behaviors (inactive, sleeping, and nest-building behaviors). We studied a group of six chimpanzees and a group of four gorillas in two exhibits of similar size and configuration for two three-month periods (between 3 and 5 p.m.) before and after the groups switched exhibits. We predicted that chimpanzees would be more likely to retire in elevated locations compared to gorillas, irrespective of the exhibit. We found a significant effect of exhibit on where the apes retired but no effect of species, such that both species were more likely to retire in elevated locations in one exhibit but not the other. This suggests that the specific characteristics of the exhibits (e.g., number of visual barriers) influenced the expression of the apes’ retiring behaviors. These findings offer further insight in how exhibit design can influence the expression of natural behaviors in these species.

“You Have Living Legends among You”

In late September 2018, multiple generations of Chicago’s storied social movements marched through Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as part of the sold-out, three-day Young Lords Fiftieth Anniversary Symposium hosted by DePaul University—an institution that, alongside Mayor Richard J. Daley’s administration, had played a sizeable role in transforming Lincoln Park into a neighborhood “primed for development.” Students, activists, and community members—from throughout Chicago, the Midwest, the East Coast, and even as far as Texas—converged to celebrate the history of Puerto Ricans in Chicago, the legacies of the Young Lords, and the promises and possibilities of resistance. As Elaine Brown, former chairwoman and minister of information for the Black Panther Party, told participants in the second day’s opening plenary, the struggle against racism, poverty, and gentrification and for self-determination and the general empowerment of marginalized people is a protracted one. “You have living legends among you,” Brown insisted, inviting us to associate as equals with the Young Lords members in our midst. Her plea encapsulated the ethos of that weekend’s celebrations: “If we want to be free, let us live the light of the Lords.”