Fabio Napolitano
- After achieving a PhD in Animal Science, in 1995 was appointed as Researcher in Animal Scienceand in 2006 asAssociate Professor at the School of Agriculture, Food, Forestry and Environment(University of Basilicata, Italy).
- He has been involved in several projects concerning animal behaviour (regional and national level) and animal welfare (national and international level) as local project leader and coordinated a national project on product quality and animal welfare in 2005.
- He is author of 107 indexed scientific articles with 1596 citations and an H-index of 24 (Scopus, 5 May 2018).
- His research activity is particularly centred on the study of behaviour andwelfareof farm animals, including buffaloes; the effect of information about animal welfare on consumer perception of product quality and willingness to pay is also a focus of his studies.
- His teaching activity at master level includes two courses: Sustainable Animal Production and Organic Production and Animal Welfare. At PhD level he is teaching a course entitled How to Write a Scientific Article and Present Experimental Data.
- He has been included in the list of experts and, for the period 2009-2011, nominated member of the scientific committee of external reviewers by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), while in 2013 he was nominated member of the working group on sheep welfare.
BOOK REVIEW
Measuring Behaviour (Cambridge University Press, 2021, 4th edition)
ISBN 978-1-108-47831-1 Hardback - € 87.52
ISBN 978-1-108-74572-7 Paperback – € 32.67
eTextbook € 26.00
"Measuring Behaviour" is an introductory guide to all scientists dealing with the study of human and non-human animals, including buffaloes. This edition, published in 2021, is the fourth following a series that started more than 30 years ago. This version is co-authored by Melissa Bateson, Professor of Ethology at the University of Newcastle (UK), and Paul Martin, author or co-author of several behavioural science books, including the previous three editions.
The book is a comprehensive manual describing all the basic principles to be followed to make good behavioural science. Along with sampling and recording rules essential to make reliable and effective behavioural observations, the book gives new pieces of information, such as the current recording technology. In particular, several technologies now available for capturing and processing behaviour are described, explaining the data flow and the use of artificial intelligence for automated behavioural coding. Importantly, the book also deals with both upstream aspects, such as the prerequisites to be considered before starting behavioural studies (i.e., ethical and legislative issues and the organization of the experimental design), and downstream steps to be undertaken to make the study effective, such as the correct path to be followed for the analysis of the data and the communication of the results through appropriate scientific writing.
This book represents a great opportunity and the only currently available guide for all the scientists willing to increase their competence or just approach behavioural studies for the first time. In addition, albeit using proper and technical language, the authors are able to engage the readers and keep the level of attention high.
Therefore, I recommend this book to all the Journal of Buffalo Science readers with an interest in behavioural studies concerning farm animals in general and buffaloes in particular. This new edition may represent a stimulus for all the scientists working on buffaloes to undertake experiments on buffalo behaviour, a topic that has received little attention so far but needs further consideration. In fact, starting in the last few decades, in order to increase the profitability of this enterprise, buffalo farming is moving from traditional techniques based on the extensive use of swampland areas to increasingly intensive systems which were developed for cattle with no water for wallowing and no access to outdoor grazing areas. The effect of these changes should be strictly monitored to assess whether buffaloes are able to cope in terms of behavioural response and welfare conditions.
