Study of diurnal activity pattern and time budget of captive royal bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in Alipore zoological garden, Kolkata
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Study of diurnal activity pattern and time budget of captive royal bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in Alipore zoological garden, Kolkata
Abstract
A study on diurnal activity pattern and time budgeting of female Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) was conducted at Alipore Zoological Garden, Kolkata, India, for seven hours observation period from 10.00h to 17.00h between June, 2023 to May, 2024 by using focal sampling method with 33,600 minutes of observations. The study revealed twelve active behaviours, eight types of resting, five territorial, four exploration, five maintenance, two social, five vocalization and three stereotypic behaviours of the tigress during the observation period. The female Bengal tiger exhibited significant variations in activities among the seasons and in the different hours within a day. The study indicated that the tigress was predominantly engaged in resting behaviours through-out all of the three seasons. Among active behaviours, it was observed that the tiger exhibited walking behaviour (4.26 ± 0.28) significantly higher in winter than the other two seasons, whereas, behaviours like drinking, bathing and panting peaked during summer. Resting activities such as sitting (10.65 ± 0.26), head down (3.71 ± 0.10) and belly up (2.79 ± 0.22); and territorial behaviours like urination (0.33 ± 0.01) were notably higher in the rainy season. When comparing the data among three seasons, in the first hour of observation, panting (4.08%) and walking (10.28%) under the active behavioural category was found to be higher during the summer season, while during the winter season lay down (57.22%) occurred more frequently. Higher incidences of lay down (68.89%) activity was observed during the monsoon while exhibiting resting behaviour from 12:00 h to 13:00 h, whereas, grooming (2.08%) reached its highest point during this season between 15:00 h and 16:00 h. When the stereotypic behaviours were considered, pacing was found to be highest (6.94 ± 0.20) during monsoon, while, circling (26.96 ± 0.33) dominated the winter. The presence of stereotypic activities indicates its possible psychological stress and demands further research on the feasible cause of this problem. Moreover, further studies on captive tiger will identify the effect of enrichment tools on its behaviour which will ensure healthier lifestyle for that animal.
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