Manejo nutricional em aves silvestres do zoológico da UNISEP: adaptação dos animais e balanço financeiro

Abstract

The performance of the science animal in the management and nutrition of wild animals has been growing over the last years, reflecting in more opportunities of work in zoos and centers of conservation and sorting of wild animals. This professional seeks to improve the relation of costs of the enterprises, in order to maintain or increase the welfare and sanitary conditions of the animals. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the cost-benefit relationship of the nutritional rebalancing applied to wild birds of the Zoological Union of Teaching of Southwest of Paraná (UNISEP), county of Dois Vizinhos-pr. For the accomplishment of this work two target species of birds were used, the true parrot (Amazona aestiva) and the Periquito-maracanã (Psittacara leucophthalma) were used, which were in separate enclosures. Nutritional rebalancing (treatment) was performed by reducing the amount of food offered and the readjustment of cuts (geometry) in food. Data were collected in two stages, before and after treatment, with 30 days each. To evaluate the cost relationship of nutritional rebalancing, food wastage was verified in the two nurseries of the target species, and food leftovers were collected three times a week. These leftovers were weighed on a precision scale on the same day they were collected. To determine the adaptation of the birds to this management were evaluated behavioral parameters and weight variation. To evaluate the behavior, five individuals of each species were randomly selected to record their frequencies of behavioral acts. The observation technique was that of instantaneous sampling, being assigned five minutes for each individual, obtaining 150 samples / species in each sampling campaign. To verify the biomass of the birds, 10 birds of each species were randomly collected and weighed three times. A reduction of three and a half times in food waste after treatment was observed, representing an annual saving of R $ 3,482.10, which if extrapolated to the 35 nurseries of the Zoo would represent a gain of about R $ 60,936.75. This cost reduction did not impact the weight of birds of both species and did not induce abnormal behavior. There was even improvement in behavioral patterns after rebalancing. Through nutritional rebalancing it was possible to maintain the physical and psychological conditions of the birds at a significant cost reduction, helping the zoo to have a better financial budget.