Behavioral correlates and welfare implications of informal interactions between caretakers and zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas

Chelluri, Gita I.; Ross, Stephen R.; Wagner, Katherine

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2012.06.008

Cited by 54 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…For example, by encouraging positive and supportive HARs, Matsuzawa and colleagues [2006] have been able to study early infant cognition in chimpanzees with chimpanzee mothers' support and assistance, in a manner similar to studies of human infants. Positive human interactions and support are known to positively affect behavioral outcomes for laboratory primates [Baker, 2004;Bayne, 2002;Chelluri et al, 2013;Davis & Balfour, 1992;Jensvold et al, 2010;Manciocco et al, 2009;Rennie & BuchananSmith, 2006;van Ijzendoorn et al, 2009]. In the current study, apes were more likely to approach, seek interaction with, and interact longer with familiar humans.…”

Section: Ape (Animal) Research Beyond the Zoomentioning

confidence: 51%

Human–animal relationships in zoo‐housed orangutans (P. abelii) and gorillas (G. g. gorilla): The effects of familiarity

Smith

2014

American J Primatol

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I examined human-animal relationships (HARs) in zoo-housed orangutans (Pongo abelii) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to see if they followed patterns similar to conspecific relationships in great apes and humans. Familiarity and social relationships guide humans' and great apes' behaviors with conspecifics. Inter-individual relationships, based on shared social history, and "generalized" relationships, based on a history of interactions with relevant classes of individuals, guide behavior with familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, respectively. I examined whether both familiarity and social relationships similarly guides great apes' cross-species interactions with humans. I used repeated measures MANOVA to compare hourly rates and average durations of ape-initiated human-directed behaviors (HDBs) between familiar and unfamiliar humans and between great ape species. HDB patterns were consistent with familiarity-based HAR predictions, indicating more negative relationships with unfamiliar humans and more positive relationships with familiar humans. Findings for unfamiliar humans are consistent with negative effects of humans on apes' behavior reported in traditional visitor effect studies (VES). However, findings for familiar humans may be overlooked in VES due to pooling across levels of human familiarity or failure to consider humans other than primarily unfamiliar visitors. Additionally, species differences in apes' HDBs suggest that data pooling across species, common in many zoo studies, may mask important differences. These findings have important methodological implications for studies of human-animal interaction as well as for captive animal wellbeing.

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Section: Ape (Animal) Research Beyond the Zoomentioning

confidence: 51%

Human–animal relationships in zoo‐housed orangutans (P. abelii) and gorillas (G. g. gorilla): The effects of familiarity

Smith

2014

American J Primatol

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“…We are also the first to look at this potential stressor by analyzing the timing of both live and stillbirths, but again, we found no pattern in the timing of either type of birth. Importantly, we know that gorillas do respond to some environmental factors, such as the birth of an infant [Kurtycz et al, ] and informal keeper interactions [Chelluri et al, ], but our evidence suggests that the presence of zoo visitors does not seem to reach the threshold of affecting birth physiology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) birth patterns and human presence in zoological settings

Kurtycz

Ross

2015

Zoo Biology

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There is some evidence to suggest that zoo visitors may have a disruptive impact on zoo-housed animals, especially primates. While some consider western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to be particularly reactive to large crowds, the evidence of these effects is mixed, and is likely highly influenced by exhibit design, and group composition. While the majority of studies have focused on behavioral responses to human presence, there is the potential for physiological effects as well, including the possibility of affecting the timing of parturition. Such effects have been demonstrated in laboratory-housed callitrichids and chimpanzees, but unlike laboratory settings where human presence is lowest during the weekends, human presence might peak during weekends in public zoo settings. However, in a study of zoo-housed chimpanzees, there were no significant differences between the number of chimpanzee births that occurred on weekdays compared to weekends [Wagner and Ross, 2008], and we sought to test these questions with gorillas. We analyzed the timing of 336 live gorilla births and 48 stillbirths at 53 accredited North American zoos from 1985-2014, and similarly to chimpanzees, found no weekend or weekday effect on number of births (live births: G = 0.000, p = 1; stillbirths: G = 0.166, p < 0.684). These data add to our understanding of the potential influence of human presence on primate behavior and physiology, and add to evidence suggesting that the effects of zoo visitors on exhibited species may be less profound than previously assumed.

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“…During each condition there were 11 scans per condition; 10 with an inter-scan interval of three minutes, and a final scan that occurred two minutes after the tenth scan. The 13 behaviours were recorded during scan samples based on previous research on chimpanzee welfare using behavioural indicators [20, 21, 22, 23]. The 13 behaviours were collapsed down into five behavioural categories; active, passive, socially active, self-grooming and abnormal (Table 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is music enriching for group-housed captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)?

et al. 2017

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Many facilities that house captive primates play music for animal enrichment or for caregiver enjoyment. However, the impact on primates is unknown as previous studies have been inconclusive. We conducted three studies with zoo-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and one with group-housed chimpanzees at the National Centre for Chimpanzee Care to investigate the effects of classical and pop/rock music on various variables that may be indicative of increased welfare. Study one compared the behaviour and use of space of 18 animals when silence, classical or pop/rock music was played into one of several indoor areas. Overall, chimpanzees did not actively avoid the area when music was playing but were more likely to exit the area when songs with higher beats per minute were broadcast. Chimpanzees showed significantly fewer active social behaviours when music, rather than silence, was playing. They also tended to be more active and engage in less abnormal behaviour during the music but there was no change to either self-grooming or aggression between music and silent conditions. The genre of music had no differential effects on the chimpanzees’ use of space and behaviour. In the second study, continuous focal observations were carried out on three individuals with relatively high levels of abnormal behaviour. No differences in behaviour between music and silence periods were found in any of the individuals. The final two studies used devices that allowed chimpanzees to choose if they wanted to listen to music of various types or silence. Both studies showed that there were no persistent preferences for any type of music or silence. When taken together, our results do not suggest music is enriching for group-housed captive chimpanzees, but they also do not suggest that music has a negative effect on welfare.

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Behavioral correlates and welfare implications of informal interactions between caretakers and zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas

Cited by 54 publications

References 44 publications

Human–animal relationships in zoo‐housed orangutans (P. abelii) and gorillas (G. g. gorilla): The effects of familiarity

Human–animal relationships in zoo‐housed orangutans (P. abelii) and gorillas (G. g. gorilla): The effects of familiarity

Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) birth patterns and human presence in zoological settings

Is music enriching for group-housed captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)?

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