Outdoor Enclosure | Encyclopedia MDPI

Outdoor Enclosure: History

Please note this is an old version of this entry, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Contributor: Tinley Hu

An outdoor enclosure is a bounded, open-air area for captive animals, delimited by a perimeter barrier that provides outdoor access while preventing escape; in cats, fitting such barriers increased time spent outside, reduced owner concern and improved welfare scores ^[1]. Outdoor rearing of rabbits permitted grazing and other active behaviour, though outcomes depended on management, environment and breed ^[2]. The barrier also bounds ranging: cats with unrestricted outdoor access had home ranges 75% larger and travelled 31% further daily than cats with restricted access ^[3]. Within the enclosure, physical geometry and the abiotic and biotic elements present constitute its complexity, which should vary with time of day and season ^[4].

outdoor enclosure
outdoor access
perimeter barrier
ranging
environmental complexity

References

Luciana Santos de Assis; Daniel Simon Mills; Introducing a Controlled Outdoor Environment Impacts Positively in Cat Welfare and Owner Concerns: The Use of a New Feline Welfare Assessment Tool. Front. Vet. Sci. 2021, 7, 599284, 10.3389/fvets.2020.599284.
Luigia Bosa; Gloria Bernabucci; Francesca Di Federico; Lorenzo Nompleggio; Marta Vispi; Laura Menchetti; Alessandro Dal Bosco; Simona Mattioli; Riccardo Primi; Pedro Girotti; et al. Outdoor Rearing and Behavioural Patterns in Diverse Rabbit Breeds: An Exploratory Study. Animals 2025, 15, 3562, 10.3390/ani15243562.
Martina Cecchetti; Sarah L. Crowley; Jared Wilson‐Aggarwal; Luca Nelli; Robbie A. McDonald; Spatial behavior of domestic cats and the effects of outdoor access restrictions and interventions to reduce predation of wildlife. Conserv. Sci. Pract. 2021, 4, e597, 10.1111/csp2.597.
Cristiano Schetini de Azevedo; Cynthia Fernandes Cipreste; Cristiane Schilbach Pizzutto; Robert John Young; Review of the Effects of Enclosure Complexity and Design on the Behaviour and Physiology of Zoo Animals. Animals 2023, 13, 1277, 10.3390/ani13081277.

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