Which two factors determine an animal's disposition?

Which two factors determine an animal's disposition?

• A. Housing and Genetic Make-up
• B. Genetic Make-up and Environmental Situation
• C. Nutrition and Housing
• D. Environmental Situation and Nutrition

Answer: (B)

Disposition, or temperament, comes from both who the animal is and the world it lives in. The genetic make-up provides the baseline patterns of reactivity, sociability, fear, and calmness—the traits that can be inherited from parents. The environmental situation then shapes how those tendencies are expressed day to day: how the animal is handled, socialized, housed, enriched, and exposed to stressors or predictability. Together, these two factors—genetic make-up and environmental situation—explain why two animals with similar genetics can behave differently in different settings, and why environment can modify temperament over time. Nutrition and housing influence behavior and welfare, but they don’t set the core temperament in the same direct way as the combination of genetics and overall environment.

Disposition, or temperament, comes from both who the animal is and the world it lives in. The genetic make-up provides the baseline patterns of reactivity, sociability, fear, and calmness—the traits that can be inherited from parents. The environmental situation then shapes how those tendencies are expressed day to day: how the animal is handled, socialized, housed, enriched, and exposed to stressors or predictability. Together, these two factors—genetic make-up and environmental situation—explain why two animals with similar genetics can behave differently in different settings, and why environment can modify temperament over time. Nutrition and housing influence behavior and welfare, but they don’t set the core temperament in the same direct way as the combination of genetics and overall environment.