This site is designed to deliver information about the behaviour of domestic and captive animals to as wide an audience as possible.

 Animals behave in ways that fascinate, amuse and amaze us. Observing the behaviour of animals helps us to understand how they survive and reproduce. The more we study the behaviour of animals, the more informed we can be about what is good for them. An understanding of a species’ behaviour also allows us to get the best out of them when we keep them for companionship, performance or production purposes. So, animal behaviour and animal welfare are very closely intertwined.

 Animal welfare is often a topic that prompts emotional debate. However, it is not sufficient to assume non-human animals' needs are identical to our own. This reality  has prompted the development of scientific tools that help to provide data to inform the animal welfare debate. We call this exciting new field animal welfare science. It is by studying the behavioural and physiological responses of animals to different challenges and environments that we can truly determine what is best for them. Animalbehaviour.net is intended to ensure that advances in our understanding of animal welfare science are accessible.

Most of the resources on this site have been written or edited by Dr Paul McGreevy, a veterinarian with considerable expertise in animal behaviour.