Animals and us: 50 years and more of applied ethology 193 193 J.A. Brown, Y.M. Seddon and M.C. Appleby (eds.) Animals and us: 50 years and more of applied ethology DOI 10.3920/978-90-8686-828-5_9, © Wageningen Academic Publishers 2016 9. Australian and New Zealand perspectives P.H. Hemsworth 1* , D.J. Mellor 2 , G.J. Coleman 1 , N.J. Beausoleil 2 , A.D. Fisher 1 and K.J. Stafford 2 1 Animal Welfare Science Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic 3010, Australia; phh@unimelb.edu.au 2 Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand Abstract A feature of Australian and New Zealand applied animal behaviour science for many decades has been its multidisciplinarity. Te disciplines involved in addition to applied animal behaviour include anatomy, biochemistry, nutrition, environmental and stress physiology, pathophysiology, afective neuroscience, and psychology, among others. Te primary focus of this chapter is the enhanced understanding of animal behaviour that has been achieved by measuring behavioural responses along with other functional indices, and the wider insights that this understanding has provided in exploring challenges faced by animals used for human purposes. Te examples provided illustrate the areas of investigation undertaken in Australia and New Zealand, ofen with the collaboration of researchers from other countries. First among these examples is the utilisation of behavioural and hormonal stress measures to assess animals’ responses to intensive housing and painful husbandry procedures. Next, we discuss the importance of following a multidisciplinary approach in developing animal welfare assessments, using the Five Domains assessment model as a specifc example. We then describe the behavioural contributions to understanding foetal and neonatal awareness, welfare and survival. Te chapter concludes with a discussion of how understanding animal and human behaviour can improve human-animal relationships, particularly through the impact of human attitudes and behaviour on animal welfare. Keywords: Australia, New Zealand, stress response, welfare assessment, human-animal relationship 9.1 Introduction Scientists such as George Alexander, Rolf Beilharz, Ron Kilgour, David Lindsay, Justin Lynch, Glenn McBride, Victor Squires and others, were prominent in the mid-20 th century in Australia and New Zealand studying neonatal, grazing, social and reproductive behaviour, and learning in animals. Tis critical mass of researchers, attentive to the practical use of scientifc principles to solve productivity, health and welfare problems, established the study of farm animal behaviour as a legitimate scholarly endeavour, providing a secure foundation for the Australian and New Zealand scientists who emerged subsequently. Many of these pioneers were trained in disciplines other than https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/pdf/10.3920/978-90-8686-828-5_9 - Thursday, November 04, 2021 6:26:33 PM - IP Address:54.162.136.36