A review of research in primate sanctuaries

Abstract

While non-human primate studies have long been conducted in laboratories, and more recently at zoological parks, sanctuaries are increasingly considered a viable setting for research. Accredited sanctuaries in non-range countries house thousands of primates formerly used as subjects of medical research, trained performers or personal pets. In range countries, however, sanctuaries typically house orphaned primates confiscated from illegal poaching and the bushmeat and pet trafficking trades. Although the primary mission of these sanctuaries is to rescue and rehabilitate residents, many of these organizations are increasingly willing to participate in non-invasive research. Notably, from a scientific standpoint, most sanctuaries provide potential advantages over traditional settings, such as large, naturalistic physical and social environments which may result in more relevant models of primates' free-ranging wild counterparts than other captive settings. As a result, an impressive scope of research in the fields of primate behaviour, cognition, veterinary science, genetics and physiology have been studied in sanctuaries. In this review, we examine the range and form of research that has been conducted at accredited sanctuaries around the world. We also describe the potential challenges of sanctuary-based work and the considerations that external researchers may face when deciding to collaborate with primate sanctuaries on their research projects.

The application of noninvasive, restraint-free eye-tracking methods for use with nonhuman primates

“…This creates opportunities for research to be conducted at certain facilities or with certain individuals and species in which invasive procedures are not permitted or feasible. For example, while zoos and sanctuaries house a higher diversity of species than do traditional research settings, they typically are not able to accommodate research protocols that require extensive training, separation of primates from group mates, or invasive protocols (Hopper, 2017;Ross & Leinwand, 2020). Noninvasive and restraint-free approaches offer the potential for eye-tracking research to be conducted in such settings, meaning a greater variety of individuals and species could be tested, expanding our understanding of cognition across and within species.…”

Invasive Research on Non-Human Primates—Time to Turn the Page

“…Several studies have shown how study subjects that do not undergo death during invasive experiments do suffer long-term psychological effects as a consequence of their traumatic experiences in laboratories [98]. These studies have been mostly conducted on NHPs that have been moved to sanctuaries after spending several years as laboratory subjects and are therefore mostly limited to research on chimpanzees [99]. Traumatic experiences due to invasive research, for instance, are linked to the occurrence of abnormal behaviours similar to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression [100,101].…”

Collaboration and Open Science Initiatives in Primate Research

“…Crockford et al, 2012;Gruber et al, 2009, for field experiments with chimpanzees). During the last two decades, an increasing number of cognitive experiments have been conducted with captive sanctuary populations of great apes, thus broadening the view of primate cognition to wild-born individuals (see Ross & Leinwand, 2020 for an overview). An important future direction in primate cognition research is to continue to find suitable experimental methods to compare primates in diverse living conditions, including the wild.…”