Introductory Chapter: Applications of Stress Endocrinology in Wildlife Conservation and Livestock Science

Abstract

Animals have contributed towards the progress of mankind in many ways such as through biomedicine, scientific research, domestication and farming, zoo animals and aquaculture [1–5]. The key concept of animal welfare underpins the quality of life of an animal while living under human management [6]. Animal welfare is a complex subject which takes into account the environmental and management factors that influence the physiological, behavioural and emotional (well-being or affective) state of animals [7, 8]. Animals such as elephants, dolphins, birds and dogs can display complex cognitive ability guided by processes such as perception, learning, memory and decisionmaking [9, 10]. Emotion in animals involves complex physiological, behavioural, immune, cognitive and morphological responses that enable them to generate behaviours to cope against stressors [11]. There are specific physiological markers of pain and stress that enable researchers to evaluate the welfare of animals from a quantitative viewpoint and relate the data to understand how the animal perceives its environment [12, 13].