Trends in the use of cooling stations for addax, ostrich, Dorcas gazelle and scimitar-horned oryx at Sharjah Safari

Abstract

Zoo enclosure design should consider the social, behavioural and physical needs of animal inhabitants. These enclosures should provide microclimates which allow animals the freedom to behaviourally thermoregulate, especially in environments that experience extreme weather conditions. For desert-dwelling species, it is important that opportunities for cooling, through wetting of the body or entering shade, are provided. This study investigated the use of cooling stations in the Sahel enclosure at Sharjah Safari by four African species: Dorcas gazelle Gazella dorcas, North African ostrich Struthio camelus camelus, addax Addax nasomaculatus and scimitar-horned oryx Oryx dammah. To better understand cooling station use, the environmental temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation (cal/cm2) as per the local weather station were investigated. Cooling station use was recorded with a series of camera traps, with species presence recorded hourly, from 06:00 until 18:00 daily. Overall, all species used the cooling stations, and solar radiation was the best predictor of cooling station use, though temperature was also a significant predictor for cooling station use by addax and scimitar-horned oryx. Dorcas gazelles rarely used the cooling stations, despite the fact that they were the most abundant species in the enclosure, and there were no significant predictors of station use for this species. Ostriches used cooling stations regularly, and they showed no preference for a specific station, whereas scimitar-horned oryx showed a preference for station 2. This study demonstrates that the need for cooling stations may differ considerably, even between desert-adapted species, and so careful consideration must be given to cooling station provision and species suitability for outdoor housing in arid zoo environments. Further studies using larger sample sizes and wider numbers of species may aid in developing the evidence for cooling station use further.