Behaviour of Captive Ostriches (Struthio camelus) at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Bachok Campus, Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

The behavioural patterns of six captive ostriches (Struthio camelus) were
studied at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Bachok Campus between July and
September 2014. The main purpose of the study was to determine the
behavioural patterns of ostriches in captivity to provide the useful information
for better management action. The ostriches were observed daily for 11 hours
from 0700 hrs until 1800 hrs for 45 days by using the focal sampling technique.
Six categories of behavioural patterns were observed namely resting,
locomotion, ingestive, comfort, aggression and thermoregulation. The highest
behaviour observed was walking compared to other behaviours, while the
lowest was running. The result of the study showed a significant difference of
behavioural patterns of captive ostriches between different observational
periods except for locomotion and aggression behaviours. The finding of the
study showed that ostriches reared in captivity possessed similar behavioural
patterns to those remaining in the wild, although some captive circumstances
imposed minor differences.