Aktivitas Walabi Lincah (Macropus agilis papuanus) di Kebun Binatang Rahmat Zoo and Park, Desa Bengabing, Pegajahan, Sumatera Utara

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the ex situ husbandry system and daily activity patterns of agile wallabies (Macropus agilis papuanus) at Rahmat Zoo and Park, Bengabing Village, Pegajahan, North Sumatra. Observations were conducted using the focal animal sampling method with two-minute intervals. The recorded activities included resting, feeding, moving, grooming, social interaction, vigilance, vocalization, elimination, and mating. The results have shown that resting has been the most dominant activity (64.94%), followed by feeding (23.26%), while other activities such as moving has 5.87% value, grooming is 4.49%, social interaction is 0.41, vigilance is 0.72%, vocalization is 0.07%, elimination is 0.22%, and mating (0.07%) has occurred at much lower frequencies. The predominance of resting has been linked to energy conservation strategies associated with low-calorie feed and the reducing predator pressure typically found in captivity. Feeding behavior has been dominated by chewing, preceded by selecting and grasping. Overall, these findings indicated that the ex situ management system has supported natural behavioral expression, contributing positively to both animal welfare and conservation objectives in captive environments