Currently the Editor-in-Chief writes, for each issue of the Journal, a one to one-and-a-half page length Editorial. In it he normally explains changes (if any) in the aims, editorial processing and layout of the publication and then usually goes on to briefly describe the material contained within it.

Many juvenile hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) are ‘rehabilitated’ with little or no previous experience of life in the wild. A study is described in which twelve such animals were monitored after release in Devon. They quickly learned their way about, built nests and found them again, and interacted normally with each other and with wild conspecifics. While several showed significant weight loss, this represented only the excess accumulated in captivity. Deaths caused by a predator (badger) and motor cars suggest that captives destinedfor release should not be allowed to become tame and unwary. However, deaths are to be expected in natural circumstances and at least one third of these animals survived beyond the nine-week study, despite having no previous experience of life in the wild. This supports the belief that, although deaths are to be expected, rehabilitating hedgehogs (even naïve juveniles) is possible and worthwhile.

The behaviour of broilers reared at pasture from 4 to 12 weeks of age on a low density diet supplied either indoors or outdoors, was compared with that of birds reared inside on deep litter. This single study found few differences in behaviour. Activity levels of birds outside were initially greater, but from six weeks of age lying increased to comparable levels in all groups.

Surprisingly little use was made of the extra space and facilities such as perches at pasture. It is proposed that the main reason for this was leg weakness as 80 per cent of the birds had a detectable gait abnormality at seven weeks of age. There was no evidence of reduced motivation to extend the behavioural repertoire, as, for example, ground pecking remained at significantly higher levels in the outdoor groups because it could also be performed from a lying posture.

The behavioural development of 90 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) was followed. Of these, 65 had been separated from their mothers to prevent casualties or, at a later age, to increase breeding success. Some showed body rocking and others did not. To obtain insight into the causes of the onset and development of body rocking, chimpanzees raised with peers, with their mother, or in a semi-natural group were compared Rocking was never observed in the semi-natural group. It was occasionally seen when with the mother. Separation from the mother soon after birth induced anxiety and rocking developed after sitting upright had developed. Rocking levels of three per cent of the time were still present at seven to nine years of age.

The most probable causes of the development of rocking are frustrating social circumstances and the inability to cope with these. Merging groups, disturbances and the introduction of a fearful object increased rocking in the individuals that had developed the habit. However, rockers reacted less to those circumstances than non-rockers, showing smaller increase in body contact and less reduction of play. This finding suggests that rocking, instead of being a bizarre reaction to unsurmountable stress, could be a behaviour that helps an individual to cope with difficulties and stress. In terms of animal welfare, rocking in chimpanzees housed in laboratory conditions is an indication of a less optimal reaction pattern to frustrating circumstances. The development of rocking may be prevented if the babies are left with the mother and in their social group. Rocking after (late) separation may be prevented when transfer takes place together with familiar peers.

Physiological and behavioural responses to stressors may affect experimental results. Since individual animals differ in their pattern of response to stressors, it is suggested that stress during experiments has the potential for increasing variability in responses to experimental treatments. Evidence supporting this is given from experiments carried out on farm animals. The main factors accounting for individual differences in response to stressors such as handling are habituation, early experiences and genetic background. Several ways of reducing stress during experiments are suggested and the need for skilful and humane handling is emphasized. It is concluded that reducing stress during experiments will have welfare benefits and may reduce the number of animals that need to be used.

Although the hunters known as ‘terrier men ‘are known to play a significant role in the illicit and cruel persecution of the badger in Britain, very little information is available upon their activities. In this study, detailed records of the hunting practices of a single terrier man, covering a period of seven years, are analysed This provides the first insight into the activities of illegal badger-digging groups, and also emphasizes the extreme stress that may be caused to quarry species during the practice of this illegal sport.

The welfare of farmed animals can be greatly influenced by the availability of appropriately designed and tested handling systems. Farmers who start a new enterprise, such as deer farming, with a small herd may be reluctant to invest in a permanently located handling facility, and this may have an adverse effect on the welfare of the deer. The design, construction and use of a portable handling facility for farmed deer is described. The advantages to management and the benefits to the welfare of deer of being able to transport the handling system to where the deer are grazing are illustrated. The system enhances the ability to monitor the incidence of disease and injury in a deer herd and provides for proper therapeutic or prophylactic treatments to be given as required.

There are now 22 titles in the Independence publishing company's series Issues for the Nineties (we reported on Animal Rights in Volume 3 Number 1 of Animal Welfare). As in previous volumes, Genetic Engineering provides a collection of reprinted up-to-date articles on the subject in question from a variety of sources (Government, newspaper and magazine articles and literature from lobby groups and charitable organizations). The target audience is educators and probably college students, but the book would be a useful introduction to the subject for any reader.

A recently published, easy-to-read booklet containing many useful items of information will be of interest to those wishing to know more about the trapping issue. Despite the number of animals trapped for their fur being on the decrease for several years, it is a topic that is currently being hotly debated internationally. Trapping Animals for Fur comes at a time when the International Standards Organisation (ISO) is developing a standard on Animal (Mammal) Traps. This move by the ISO was prompted by pro-trapping interests aiming to circumvent European Community legislation which in 1995 will ban the import of furs from countries which have not effectively prohibited the leghold (gin) trap, or where trapping methods used do not meet internationally agreed humane trapping standards.

The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) has produced a second edition of its stranded whales booklet. The first version was published out of the RSPCA's 1983 Stranded Whale Workshop and this 1994 edition incorporates additional information from a follow-up seminar run by the Society in November 1992.

In 1989 the then New Zealand (NZ) Minister of Agriculture set up an Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AWAC) to advise him on animal welfare matters. The Committee has continued in existence and now consists of members from the following backgrounds: the farming community, animal welfare groups, the veterinary profession, behavioural science and the NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. It also includes the Chairman of the NZ National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee, an independent chairman and, up to February 1991, a philosopher. Much of the Committee's work has been directed towards a series of Codes of Recommendations and Minimum Standards for the Welfare of Animals.

The rearing of pheasants for release and the subsequent shooting of them for sport has been much criticized by animal welfarists. Many of the arguments, however, have been made without the non-specialist critics knowing much about the practicalities of the operation. A short booklet published by the Farm Animal Welfare Network (FAWN) - an organization originally set up as Chickens’ Lib - will largely fill this information gap. The publication briefly covers such matters as the number of birds reared to be shot; the method of rearing; the use of ‘bits’ and ‘spectacles’ to control aggression; the health of the birds, and their legal protection. It will be argued by some that the material in this FAWN document is presented in a somewhat one-sided manner but, at least, the booklet does bring many of the practicalities of rearing pheasants for shooting out into the open.

The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) - the independent advisory body to the UK Agriculture Ministers - has, over the years, issued a number of important reports on the welfare of farm animals. The latest in the series, the Report on the Welfare of Sheep, was published in April 1994 and is based upon a two year investigation carried out by the seven members of the FAWC Sheep Advisory Group. Particular attention was paid to the extensive husbandry component of the sheep industry although all types of systems - extensive, intensive, and mixed (intensive parts of the year, extensive at others) - were examined. Sixty-nine recommendations to improve the welfare of sheep are made. Some of these recommendations will require alterations to the legislation; others might be addressed by changes in the Codes of Recommendation for the Welfare of Sheep made under the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968; others are more advisory and may influence the sheep industry to modify some of its husbandry practices.

A new booklet, ‘How to Win Debates with Vivisectors’, which is based upon Vernon Coleman's 1991 book Why Animal Experiments Must Stop (see Books received), is ‘…designed to help all anti-vivisectionists understand exactly HOW to argue when faced with the false arguments put forward (often with apparent scientific logic) by the Vivisectors and those who defend vivisection’. The booklet is laid out as a series of paired statements and rebuttals - two or three to a page - each starting ‘The Vivisectors say:…’ and followed by ‘The truth is:…’.