Jessica Burkhart's research

Social bonding

Developing non-invasive protocols for social bonding in orphans and social animals who require group integration. This is paramount for conservation in a world where wilderness areas are fenced, and natural dispersal is impossible. Human intervention is now required to keep genetic flow across fragmented habitats, however, it's not easy to bond unfamiliar individuals. Even the most social animals are territorial against intruders, which often leads to deadly outcomes. Animals in captivity are also restricted from forming adequate social connections, which cause stress and anxiety, even leading to mortality. The protocols which we have developed help to ease fear and aggression and encourage positive social interaction so that we can facilitate bonding and help improve welfare and survival rates for both captive and free roaming wildlife.

Impacts of captivity and mitigation strategies

Understanding environmental or situational impacts on behaviour and well-being of individual species and developing methods to mitigate negative effects. We are all shaped by our experiences. To an animal who does not understand what and why a situation is taking place, this can have grave negative impacts. Additionally, living in a captive environment is a far cry from a natural environment, and this has serious impacts on natural behaviour across species. For example, our work has shown that female lions who are naturally egalitarian, showing no dominance, develop extreme dominant-subordinate relationships in captivity. This can lead to fighting and aggression, as well as inability to manage a species due to unexpected behavior. Our protocols have proven to mitigate this behaviour in African lions, and we continue to investigate similar situations and mitigation strategies across species and conditions.

Stress reduction

Testing novel methodology for decreasing anxiety during translocation and reintroduction. Because most nature reserves and wildlife territories are fenced, human intervention is required to keep genetic flow across habitats. This requires trapping animals and containing them in crates on the back of a truck over a long journey. This is necessary, but incredibly frightening, and this stress often leads to fatal metabolic conditions such as heart failure, kidney and other organ damage, muscle breakdown, among other awful outcomes. We are developing natural protocols with no side effects which help mitigate this stressful experience, by decreasing the animals fear center in the brain and engaging their curiosity and interest in the new experience. This is also important as the animal is released into a new environment and required to associate with unfamiliar individuals (see social bonding).

Cognitive studies

Investigating cognitive comprehension, problem solving ability, and the neural corelates to understand both social and ecological species-specific impacts. Each species is wired to perceive their environment differently- whether to avoid threats, find food, or locate breeding partners- understanding how an individual learns and interprets their environment in order to make decisions, will have a big impact on developing successful conservation management protocols. Furthermore, the more we understand how the brain interprets information and how it has evolved differently in different species due to different survival requirements, the better we can help animals thrive as wilderness areas decrease and wildlife survival requires more involved management.

Jessica Burkhart's research

University of Minnesota Lion Center

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