Dr. Irene Camerlink is a researcher in animal behaviour and welfare, with a focus on the social behaviour of pigs. She conducted her PhD at Wageningen University (Netherlands) and thereafter worked as postdoctoral researcher at SRUC (Edinburgh, UK) and the Vetmeduni, Vienna (Austria) before taking a position as Associate Professor (Hab.) at the Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. She is Editor-in-chief of the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, and editor of the books ‘Animal Welfare in Practice: Pigs’ and ‘Bridging Research Disciplines to Advance Animal Welfare Science’. She was awarded the ISAE New Investigator Award in 2017 and the UFAW Young Animal Welfare Scientist of the Year Award in 2020. Throughout her career she has studied pig behaviour and welfare by combining multiple disciplines such as genetics, ethology, behavioural ecology and social sciences.
Prof. Irene Camerlink
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Short Abstract
Pigs’ perception of ambient temperatures: a sustainable approach to thermoregulation
How pigs perceive their environment is ultimately an individual experience that varies within and between individuals. Following temperature recommendations for best pig performance is a good practice at the herd level but ignores individual needs. Literature has shown that pigs can perform well across a range of climates, including cold and tropical climates. However, the individual’s needs, aside from temperature recommendations based on age categories, have hardly been considered for pigs. In particular, the use of different thermal zones, variability in temperature and microclimates is understudied. This may result in thermal discomfort, with most notably heat stress in highly productive pigs and cold stress in young and sick pigs. With the global change in climates, farms located in certain geographical areas may have to reconsider their temperature management systems, as ambient temperatures may increasingly exceed seasonal norms. Heating a full building to always have the same constant temperature may not be economically feasible (in terms of energy costs), environmentally sustainable, or best for pig welfare. Given the rapid and profound changes to the climate, as well as the urgent need to work towards a more sustainable pig sector in terms of financial viability, environmental impact, farmer well-being and animal welfare, it is needed to reconsider temperature management in indoor pig housing systems.