Wildlife is declining at a rate that current conservation methods are not meeting. Now more than ever, is an important time to assess how such conservation methods could be improved. The rescue, rehabilitation and release of species have the potential to supplement wild animal populations, yet the success of such methods are often debated. By switching focus to the rehabilitation process and understanding how individuals progress in important skillsets for survival may be a valuable alternative, but such an approach is currently lacking a suitable method. The goal of this thesis was to test whether the keeper rating method could be a reliable and accurate tool to account for behavioural progress in the survival skills exhibited by animals undergoing rehabilitation. Therefore, this thesis follows two themes which focussed on how such survival skills are exhibited in relation to the opportunities available to practice such skills during rehabilitation programmes, but also the development of a relevant, and thus applicable, method to capture such data. To target such objectives, we focussed on the rehabilitation of two large arboreal mammals, Bornean orangutans and sun bears, who represent keystone species for the Bornean tropical rainforests. In chapter two, we refined a rating tool which demonstrated its reliability and validity in measuring rehabilitant orangutan behaviours. Analysis as to how rehabilitant orangutans progressed in important climbing, nesting and foraging skills throughout a soft rehabilitation process identified that a later admission age and being bold were key progress predictors for these skills. To understand whether the rating tool could be successfully applied to another species, we adapted it to the behaviours of sun bears and tested the question items for reliability and validity. The findings from chapter 3 contributed further evidence that the rating tool can draw reliable and valid behavioural measures for sun bears. In chapter 4, we then analysed such keeper scores to account for sun bear rehabilitation progress. It was identified that sun bears undergoing a hard rehabilitation setting demonstrated a decrease in climbing and nesting skills with longer exposure to an enclosed setting, as predicted. Specifically, age and duration in the enclosure are likely to have some effect on bears’ chances when released in the wild, although more data are required from post-release settings. From the collation of such findings, we identified important considerations to take forward for future rehabilitation protocols. Such considerations are towards the pre-rehabilitation contexts, the role of opportunities to practice in-rehabilitation and potential personality predictors for progress. We conclude by advocating for future research to adopt the keeper-rating method for long-term monitoring of animals undergoing rehabilitation.
Towards Understanding Rehabilitation Progress
Saunders, L. A. (Author). 29 Sept 2025
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis