Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 300807

Coordinator Sebastian Holmes Opens in new window

Description This subject introduces students to the varying relationships between humans and animals including domestication, the role of animals for companionship, as workers, the traditional role of animals in agriculture, wildlife and zoo animals and their increasingly recognised aesthetic and therapeutic roles. Students will work with a variety of domesticated animals, captive native mammals, and reptiles on-campus, and in a variety of animal industries off campus, including wildlife parks and zoos. The subject includes a balance of theoretical and practical work in the areas of behaviour and handling, basic husbandry, health care, and ethical management.

School Science

Discipline Animal Husbandry

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

Check your HECS Band contribution amount via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 1 subject

Incompatible Subjects AGRI 1006 - Introduction to Animal Science AGRI 1007 - Human Animal Interactions

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Describe the importance of animals and their uses in society in a global context.
2. Define concepts, terminology and definitions in animal science.
3. Describe the history of human-animal interactions.
4. Discuss animal domestication as a basis for many of the forms of human-animal contact through the role of animals in food and fibre production, nutrient recycling, research (biomedical, production, behaviour and other forms) and for pleasure, companionship and service).
5. Define the principles and ethics of animal exhibitions and public perceptions of animal use.
6. Demonstrate and describe safe handling of a range of animal species including domestic and non-domestic animals.
7. Observe basic animal behaviour, and interpret this behaviour in the context of production, recreation and service.
8. Report research findings using academic written and oral communication and develop intellectual autonomy.

Subject Content

1. Historical Perspectives: Animal attributes exploited by humans; Animal products and human nutrition; Animals and human development
2. Historical Perspectives: Hunter gatherers; Neolithic Revolution; Animals in religion, culture and mythology
3. Positive Interactions: Domestic agricultural animals
4. Positive Interactions: Working and entertainment
5. Positive Interactions: Companion animals
6. Positive Interactions: Animals in medicine and research
7. Human Animal Conflicts: Zoonosis and Allergies; Pests and Parasites
8. Human Animal Conflicts: Invasive and Introduced Species
9. Human Animal Conflicts: Impact of Agricultural Animals on the Environment
10. Human Animal Conflicts: Habitat Destruction and Human Wildlife Conflicts
11. Human Animal Conflicts: Managing Human Wildlife Conflicts for Coexistence
12. Human Animal Conflicts: Morality of Animal Extinctions in the Anthropocene