Nonhuman Primate

Beyond single metrics: Multi-parameter home-cage monitoring improves welfare assessment

Single outcome measures often fall short of the sensitivity and objectivity expected under European Directive 2010/63, particularly in fast progressing disease models. To address this gap, the German Research Foundation consortium FOR2591 collated data from 55 routinely used models in...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Baboon, Capuchin, Chimpanzee, Frog & Toad, Gibbon, Lemur, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate, Owl Monkey, Pig, Rat, Rodent, Squirrel Monkey, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: Talbot, S. R., Tolba, R. H., Bleich, A. 2026. Beyond single metrics: Multi-parameter home-cage monitoring improves welfare assessment. Laboratory Animals 60(1), 20–24.

Preferential space use exhibited by individual orangutans in an innovative enclosure at Auckland Zoo

To meet the needs of socially complex primates, modern zoo enclosures are designed to include structural, sensory, food-based, and tactile enrichment, as well as opportunities to express the behavioral preferences of zoo-housed individuals. The welfare of captive primates is commonly...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Steiner, H., Malone, N., Battles, H. T. 2025. Preferential space use exhibited by individual orangutans in an innovative enclosure at Auckland Zoo. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 28(4), 703–714.

With or without you: Common marmoset, Callithrix jacchus, personality expression is mediated by social setting

Animal personality has been studied in many solitary and socially living taxa, but the effect of conspecifics on the individuals’ personality expression remains largely unknown. Studies assessing the personality of the same animals in individual and social settings are also...

Year Published: 2026Topics: PersonalityAnimal Type: Marmoset, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Šlipogor, V., Masilkova, M., Höflinger, A. et al. 2026. With or without you: Common marmoset, Callithrix jacchus, personality expression is mediated by social setting. Animal Behaviour 231, 123367.

3D-printable non-invasive head immobilization system for non-human primates

Background: Efficient head fixation is critical in primate behavioral experiments for accurate eye tracking and neural studies. Existing methods risk infection and bone necrosis due to their invasive nature. New method: We propose a custom-designed, 3D-printed non-invasive head immobilization system...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive Testing, Surgery & Post-OpAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Shahbazi, E., Nguyen, D., Swedan, T. et al. 2026. 3D-printable non-invasive head immobilization system for non-human primates. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 425, 110593.

Complex substrates and bedding for environmental enhancement and research: Or, the nature of primates

Complex substrates, including bedding, have generally been known to encourage nonhuman primate species-typical behaviors and have myriad uses in research, yet are still frequently resisted, especially in laboratory environments. Data show or suggest that complex substrates have the potential to...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Baboon, Chimpanzee, Gibbon, Lemur, Macaque, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Sayers, K., Allen, J., Bellanca, R. U. et al. 2026. Complex substrates and bedding for environmental enhancement and research: Or, the nature of primates. American Journal of Primatology 88(4), e70149.

Development and validation of a cynomolgus macaque grimace scale for acute pain assessment

Cynomolgus macaques may undergo surgical procedures for scientific and veterinary purposes. Recognition and assessment of pain using validated tools is a necessary first step for adequately managing pain in these primates. Grimace scales are one means of assessing the occurance...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Paterson, E. A., O’Malley, C. I., Moody, C. et al. 2023. Development and validation of a cynomolgus macaque grimace scale for acute pain assessment. Scientific Reports 13(1), 3209.

Health correlates of extended longevity in captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta)

Captive primates maintained at accredited institutions can live extraordinarily long lives and, as a result, are useful models for understanding the physiology of aging. Many institutions monitor primate health using serum chemistry panels and complete blood counts (CBCs), assays that...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Lemur, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Mustill, R. L., Ellsaesser, L. N., Williams, C. V. et al. 2025. Health correlates of extended longevity in captive ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). American Journal of Primatology 87(12), e70103.

Responses of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) to deceased infants

Studying nonhuman primates’ responses to the death of conspecifics has gained growing interest in comparative thanatology providing wider evolutionary context for our understanding of human responses to death and mourning. Primates exhibit diverse reactions to infant deaths, with infant corpse...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Munyawera, J., Morrison, R., Eckardt, W. 2026. Responses of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) to deceased infants. Primates 67(1), 37–48.

Ethological scars? Exposure to multiple negative events over a lifespan may predict abnormal repetitive behaviour in laboratory-housed rhesus macaques

We tested the hypothesis that, in rhesus macaques used in biomedical research, the performance of abnormal repetitive behaviours (ARBs; e.g. pacing, hair-plucking, eye-poking) reflects the cumulative burden of negative experiences. For 240 macaques living in two facilities, we did this...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Mason, G., Coleman, K., McCowan, B. et al. 2026. Ethological scars? Exposure to multiple negative events over a lifespan may predict abnormal repetitive behaviour in laboratory-housed rhesus macaques. Biology Letters 22(3), 20250638.

Enhancing captive welfare management with deep learning: Video-based detection of gibbon behaviors using YOWOvG

Accurate monitoring of animal behavior is critical for assessing welfare and informing conservation strategies for vulnerable species like the eastern hoolock gibbon (Hoolock leuconedys). To overcome limitations of manual observation and single-frame analysis in captive settings, this study developed the...

Year Published: 2026Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Luo, J., Du, Y., Wang, Y. et al. 2026. Enhancing captive welfare management with deep learning: Video-based detection of gibbon behaviors using YOWOvG. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 29(1), 160–175.