Pair Housing for Female Longtailed and Rhesus Macaques in the Laboratory: Behavior in Protected Contact Versus Full Contact

Baker, Kate; Crockett, Carolyn M.; Lee, Grace H.; Oettinger, Brooke; Schoof, Valérie A. M.; Thom, Jinhee P.

doi:10.1080/10888705.2012.658330

Cited by 21 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In contrast, our protected contact dividers allowed animals to reach entire limbs into their partner’s cage, promoting greater physical contact and even allowing additional behaviors such as mounting (personal observation). We hypothesized that this increased opportunity for social interaction would result in a decrease in MSB compared to single housing, similar to that seen in studies using equivalent protected contact dividers in longtailed macaques (Baker et al, 2012b; Lee et al, 2012). While more work is needed to determine whether other abnormal behaviors in rhesus monkeys may be decreased with the use of the wide bar protected contact dividers, our results suggest that protected contact housing, even with widely spaced metal bars, produces rates of MSB equivalent to single housing for rhesus macaques, and may not offer the same benefits as full contact housing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…In contrast, multiple studies on longtailed macaques ( Macaca fascicularis ) have utilized widely spaced bars for protected contact housing, allowing for more tactile contact and grooming opportunities. In these studies, there were no statistically significant differences in abnormal behaviors, including MSBs, between protected and full contact housing (Baker et al, 2012b; Lee et al, 2012). While it is possible that the disparate results could be due to species differences, it is also possible that the increased opportunities for tactile contact may have helped reduce MSB.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…In contrast, protected contact, a kind of housing in which two NHPs are separated by a partially open divider that allows some tactile contact, has not always shown the same reduction. Several studies on rhesus macaques have found higher abnormal behaviors in protected contact than full contact housing (Baker et al, 2013; Baker et al, 2012b; Gottlieb et al, 2013a). However, the separation barriers in these studies were made of mesh or were solid slides with relatively small holes for grooming, and thus provided limited physical contact between partners.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of environmental and intrinsic factors that contribute to stereotypic behavior in captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta )

Gottlieb

Maier

Coleman

2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Full body repetitive behaviors, known as motor stereotypic behaviors (MSBs), are one of the most commonly seen abnormal behaviors in captive non-human primates, and are frequently used as a behavioral measure of well-being. The main goal of this paper was to examine the role of environmental factors (i.e., foraging enrichment and socialization) and intrinsic factors (i.e., temperament and origin) in the development of MSB in rhesus macaques living in cages. MSB was assessed during short annual observations in which a trained observer recorded a monkey’s behavior for 5 min, followed by a 3-min novel object test. Data were collected over 11 years, totaling 9805 observations. We compared MSB for animals with and without foraging enrichment, and across three socialization conditions: full contact pairing, protected contact socialization (partners physically separated by widely spaced bars), and single housing. In addition, we evaluated whether individual differences in response to a novel object and ancestral origin (i.e., China vs. India), predicted MSB expression during the annual observations. Data were analyzed using generalized mixed effects modeling, with the best fitting models chosen using Akaike Information Criterion. Subjects were at lowest risk for MSB when a foraging device was present (p < 0.05), and when in full contact social housing (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in MSB between subjects that were single housed and subjects housed in protected contact pairs. In addition, subjects that never touched the novel object were significantly less likely to exhibit MSB than those that touched the object immediately (p < 0.001) or within 3 min (p < 0.001). Finally, monkeys with some degree of Chinese ancestry were significantly more likely to display MSB than Indian-origin monkeys (p < 0.05). These results add to the growing body of literature on factors that can contribute to the development of MSB.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of environmental and intrinsic factors that contribute to stereotypic behavior in captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta )

Gottlieb

Maier

Coleman

2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…A study of female long-tailed macaques found no benefits of full contact over protected contact [Lee et al, 2012]. A carefully controlled comparison of female long-tailed and rhesus macaques found that the relatively high levels of abnormal and tension-related behavior in protected contact in comparison to full contact, was seen only in the rhesus macaques [Baker et al, 2012b]. Given that these two closely related species seem to show different responses to protected contact housing, it is likely that other species will also differ in the response to this form of housing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Creating holes in solid panels is a relatively simple and inexpensive retrofit, but the use of widely spaced bars may better accommodate grooming actions and other forms of contact as well as facilitate visual access during interactions. This type of partition was employed with the long-tailed macaques studied by Lee et al [2012] and Baker et al [2012b], and may have contributed to the apparent species difference. Further research on alternative partition styles should be conducted before drawing wide-scale conclusions regarding the relative unfavorability of protected contact housing as a tool for providing social contact to caged nonhuman primates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing options for pair housing rhesus macaques using behavioral welfare measures

Baker

Bloomsmith

Oettinger³

et al. 2013

American J Primatol

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In a biomedical research environment, research or management procedures may render continuous full contact pairing of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) unfeasible. This study aimed to determine whether separation on a frequent basis or housing in adjacent cages with tactile contact interferes with the behavioral benefits of continuous full contact. Behavioral data (1260 hours) were collected from 32 adult females and 16 adult males housed at two National Primate Research Centers. Subjects were studied in four housing conditions: single housing, full contact pair housing, intermittent contact pair housing, and protected contact housing. After introduction, each pair was housed in each of the three social housing conditions in varying order. Among females, but not males, introducing animals into full and intermittent contact reduced levels of abnormal behavior. There was a trend toward this reduction in protected contact. In both females and males, full and intermittent contact was associated with lower levels of anxiety-related behavior, but protected contact was not. Females spent more time inactive in protected contact than either full or intermittent contact, and males showed a trend toward less inactivity following introduction into full contact. Both sexes showed less affiliation in protected contact compared to the other forms of social housing. Agonistic behavior among females was not affected by housing condition; among males, levels were equivalent in full and intermittent contact but were higher in intermittent than protected contact. Frequent separation of pairs does not appear to detract from the behavioral benefits of pair housing. Separation by a barrier permitting tactile contact is inferior to other forms of social housing but showed modest improvements over single housing nonetheless. This study can guide the provision of social contact to rhesus macaques under conditions restricting pairs from continuous full contact.

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Risk factors for stereotypic behavior and self‐biting in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): Animal's history, current environment, and personality

Gottlieb

Capitanio

McCowan

2013

American J Primatol

125

135

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Captive rhesus macaques sometimes exhibit undesirable abnormal behaviors, such as motor stereotypic behavior (MSB) and self-abuse. Many risk factors for these behaviors have been identified but the list is far from comprehensive, and large individual differences in rate of behavior expression remain. The goal of the current study was to determine which experiences predict expression of MSB and self-biting, and if individual differences in personality can account for additional variation in MSB expression. A risk factor analysis was performed utilizing data from over 4,000 rhesus monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center. Data were analyzed using model selection, with the best fitting models evaluated using Akaike Information Criterion. Results confirmed previous research that males exhibit more MSB and self-biting than females, MSB decreases with age, and indoor reared animals exhibit more MSB and self-biting than outdoor reared animals. Additionally, results indicated that animals exhibited less MSB and self-biting for each year spent outdoors; frequency of room moves and number of projects positively predicted MSB; pair separations positively predicted MSB and self-biting; pair housed animals expressed less MSB than single housed and grate paired animals; and that animals expressed more MSB and self-biting when in bottom rack cages, or cages near the room entrance. Based on these results we recommend limiting exposure to these risk factors when possible. Our results also demonstrated a relationship between personality and MSB expression, with animals low on gentle temperament, active in response to a human intruder, and high on novel object contact expressing more MSB. From these results we propose that an animal’s MSB is related to its predisposition for an active personality, with active animals expressing higher rates of MSB.

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Pair Housing for Female Longtailed and Rhesus Macaques in the Laboratory: Behavior in Protected Contact Versus Full Contact

Cited by 21 publications

References 32 publications

Evaluation of environmental and intrinsic factors that contribute to stereotypic behavior in captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta )

Evaluation of environmental and intrinsic factors that contribute to stereotypic behavior in captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta )

Comparing options for pair housing rhesus macaques using behavioral welfare measures

Risk factors for stereotypic behavior and self‐biting in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): Animal's history, current environment, and personality

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