很少有研究关注旅行马戏团中老虎的特定物种福利影响。缺乏科学证据来告知全国立法,这意味着老虎仍然常用于世界各地的马戏团。使用书目数据库WebofScience和Scopus对相关已发表的研究进行了系统的回顾,辅以叙事搜索。总的来说,确定了42项相关研究,这些研究评估了圈养老虎的福利,包括马戏团和动物园.只有八篇论文直接评估了马戏团对老虎的福利影响,证明在这方面缺乏研究。鉴于马戏团与动物园相比提供了次优的环境,对老虎福利的影响也从动物园的研究中推断出来,在五个域框架内。总的来说,这些论文推断,马戏团的旅行性质通常会对营养福利领域产生负面影响,物理环境,健康,和精神状态。这是由于外壳尺寸的限制,以及在环境和行为丰富方面。采购适当的食物和专门的常规兽医护理通常也很困难。文献是关于行为互动的,特别是培训是否可以通过提供精神刺激来改善福利。然而,由于观众的噪音干扰,马戏团表演通常与负面福利有关。集体科学证据表明,老虎不适合马戏团生活,由于旅行马戏团无法提供其特定物种的心理,生理,和行为需要。
There are very few studies that have focused on species-specific welfare implications for tigers in a travelling circus. The absence of scientific evidence to inform nationwide legislation means that tigers are still commonly used in travelling circuses across the world. A systematic review of relevant published studies was conducted using the bibliographic databases Web of Science and Scopus, supplemented by a narrative search. In total, 42 relevant studies were identified that assessed the welfare of tigers in captivity, including circuses and zoos. Only eight papers assessed the welfare implications for tigers in circuses directly, evidencing the lack of research in this area. Given that circuses provide a sub-optimal environment compared to zoos, implications for
tiger welfare were also inferred from zoo research, within the Five Domains framework. Collectively, these papers infer that the travelling nature of a circus often negatively impacts the welfare domains of nutrition, physical environment, health, and mental state. This is due to limitations in enclosure size, as well as in both environmental and behavioural enrichment. There is also often difficulty in sourcing appropriate food and specialised routine veterinary care. The literature is divided concerning behavioural interactions, specifically whether training can improve welfare by offering mental stimulation. However, circus performances are often associated with negative welfare due to noise disruption from spectators. The collective scientific evidence indicates that tigers are not well suited to circus living, due to the inability of a travelling circus to provide for their species-specific psychological, physiological, and behavioural needs.