Animal Welfare Monitor

Scan sampling — the group's positions and behaviours, recorded in the field

Knowing where your animals are and what they are doing there shows how they use their enclosure. Animal Welfare Monitor guides this recording in the field, with or without an enclosure map, for one or more species, live or from a video.

2D or 3D map
Individuals or group
Available offline

Available

Akongo

Animal Welfare Monitor

Scan sampling, a repeated record of the whole group

Scan sampling is a behavioural observation method. At regular intervals, the observer records, for each animal in the group, where it is and what it is doing at that moment. A single scan says little; repeated over days or weeks, scans show how the animals use their enclosure and divide their activities.

In the field, Animal Welfare Monitor applies the protocol defined in a data collection campaign prepared on the web (number and duration of sessions, breaks, ethogram): the app runs the sessions one after another and records, for each animal or each group, its position on the enclosure map, its behaviour, or both, depending on the campaign.

Once synchronised, the scans feed the analysis of space use and of relationships between individuals on the web.

Location

Placing each animal on the enclosure map

Each enclosure zone is displayed as a grid map. For each animal, you tap the square where it is and then, if the campaign collects behaviours, you indicate what it is doing:

Several zones
Switch from one zone to another during the session (e.g. indoor building and outdoor enclosure), each with its own map.
In 2D or 3D
In 3D, also indicate the height at which the animal is (e.g. underwater, on the ground, in a tree), according to the scale of levels set for the zone.
Animals not visible
An animal out of sight is recorded as not visible, outside the map: every animal in the group is accounted for in the record.
Associated behaviour
If the campaign collects behaviours, each position is associated with a behaviour from the campaign's ethogram, common to all species or specific to each. Abnormal behaviours are flagged in it.

Collection modes

Identifying each individual, or counting a group

Depending on the species, the size of the group and the observation conditions, the campaign sets the most suitable recording mode:

Individual mode
When you recognise each animal (e.g. a group of elephants), it is identified and placed at its position: space use and each individual's own behaviour can then be read animal by animal.
Group mode
When recognising them one by one is not realistic (e.g. a hundred flamingos), you choose the species and enter the number of individuals observed at each position.
Several species
In a mixed-species enclosure, all the species present are recorded during the same session.
Scan without a map
When position is not needed, the list of animals replaces the map: each one is marked as observed or not visible.

During data collection

Timed sessions, from context to summary

The app follows the campaign protocol, session after session:

Consecutive sessions
Timed sessions follow one another, separated by a break; their number, their duration and that of the break are set in the campaign. In the last session, once all the animals have been recorded, you can end it without waiting for the timer to run out.
Context questions
Before and after the scan, questions record the observation conditions (e.g. group composition, works, observer position), including photos.
Summary
At the end, a summary shows, session by session, the positions that were visible, not visible and not entered. You can add a comment to it.
Live or delayed
If the campaign allows it, the scan can also be done from a video recording, by entering the date and time of the recording.
Offline
Once the campaign has been downloaded, scans are done without a network. They are sent automatically once the connection is back.

What scan sampling changes for your facility

Comparable records
Session duration, breaks and ethogram are set in the campaign: each observer records the same information, in the same way.
The space actually used
Accumulated scans reveal the zones that are used, those that are neglected and, in 3D, the height at which the animals stay.
The effect of a change, measurable
By repeating scans before and after a redesign or the addition of an enrichment, you can compare space use.
No double entry
Scans are recorded in the field and go to the web version, ready to be analysed.

Focal sampling and scan sampling, two complementary methods

Focal sampling: one individual at a time

The observer follows a single animal for a set period and records its behaviours as the observation goes on. Focal sampling provides information on each individual's time budget.

Scan sampling: the whole group

At regular intervals, the observer records, for all the animals, their position, their behaviour or both, depending on the campaign. Accumulated, scans reveal how the space is actually used.

Discover focal sampling