African lion (Panthera leo) cubs are extensively used in South Africa in wildlife-interaction tourist activities. Facilities provide close interaction opportunities, but the welfare impacts on the cubs are unclear. A workshop was held with 15 lion-experienced stakeholders, including government officials, nature conservationists, animal welfare organisations, lion breeders, lion handlers, an animal ethologist, wildlife veterinarian, wildlife rehabilitation specialist and an animal rights advocacy group representative. Individual representatives nominated a range of welfare concerns, and 15 were identified for discussion and prioritisation. The leading welfare concern was a lack of governance and regulation within the industry. Participants agreed on nine non-negotiable practices affecting welfare concerns, which included ethical concerns, such as cubs exiting into the ranching industry (farming of lions for hunting) and the bone trade (lions being slaughtered for their bones, which are exported for lion bone wine) once petting age has passed. Welfare concerns representative of current management practices within the lion cub interaction industry were compared for importance using an online adaptive conjoint analysis survey of 60 stakeholders in the industry. The survey identified the most important welfare concerns to be poor social grouping of cubs, an inability for cubs to choose their own environment and retreat from a forced interaction, a lack of trained and dedicated caretakers, and poor breeding practices. The conjoint analysis survey results produced a value model, which can be used as a tool to score cubs’ welfare in interaction facilities, and it identified unacceptable practices lacking welfare consideration.

A study on a population of pigeons on the University of South Africa’s Muckleneuk campus was conducted over 2 years. Counts were conducted during a baseline year (March 2013–February 2014) to establish the pigeon population index inhabiting the campus buildings, and again in the management year (August 2014–August 2015) once Eagle Eyes™, Fire (Flash) Flags, bird spikes and a combination thereof were implemented on the buildings. An efficacy reduction percentage was determined for each of the control structures. The total pigeon index on the campus declined by 50 % once the control structures were implemented. Control structures; however, differed markedly in efficacy from each other. Whilst bird spikes indicated the highest efficacy at reducing the pigeon population index, seasonality also influenced the efficacy of the control structure. Quantified understanding of the efficacy of pigeon control measures allows urban management to make informed decisions about reducing pigeon populations.

Lion (Panthera leo) cubs are used in wildlife interaction tourism but the effects on cub welfare are unknown. We assessed the behaviour of three cohorts of lion cubs, twelve animals in total, at three different interaction facilities, using continuous and scan-sampling methodologies for the entire duration of cub utilisation for human interactions. Cubs spent most time inactive (62%), particularly sleeping (38%), but also spent a substantial amount of time playing (13%) and being alert (12%). A generalised linear mixed model revealed that cub behaviour was similar in two facilities but different from cubs in the third. In these two similar facilities, as human interactions increased, the time spent resting, sleeping and playing with other cubs decreased, and alert behaviour, grooming of humans and flight responses increased. In the third facility, cubs had an abnormal activity budget, with high levels of inactivity (80%) accompanied by a lack of response to human interactions. We conclude that in some facilities normal cub behaviour cannot be achieved and may be compromised by a high frequency of human interactions, which therefore needs to be controlled to limit adverse effects on cub behaviour.

A study on the short-term effects of audio raptor recordings and the visual presence of raptors, as a means of pigeon control on the University of South Africa’s Muckleneuk campus was conducted over a 12-week period in 2014/2015. This study recorded no significant difference in the number of pigeons between the scare treatments, however significant difference was observed within the 30 minute period post-scare at dawn resulting in temporary behavioural modification. Knowledge of pigeons’ response to audio and visual raptor presence contributes to understanding pigeon ecology and integrative pigeon control strategies.

Pigeons are often considered a nuisance in urban environments, leading to the attempted control or eradication of their populations. This study explored the perceptions of 246 staff members employed on the University of South Africa’s Muckleneuk campus to ascertain the extent and nature of the perceived pigeon problem, suggested control methodologies and their anticipated results. The study found that the majority of staff do not consider the pigeons to pose a problem on the campus and that, should control be imposed, humane, non-lethal measures were preferred over eradication. The isolated pigeon-related complaints revealed that the management’s negative perceptions of the pigeons were not representative of staff members in general. The study concludes that a comprehensive public participation process is a necessary and integral part of the development and implementation of a sustainable and efficient pigeon control plan.