Enrichment effects on rhesus monkeys successively housed singly, in pairs, and in groups (1996)

Schapiro, S. J., Bloomsmith, M. A., Porter, L. M. et al.

Abstract

Subjects were more socially oriented when pair-housed than when living in small groups. Inanimate enrichment did not affect behavior ... although enhancements were well-used by singly-caged yearlings and pair-housed juveniles. Subjects used enrichment less frequently when housed in groups. The significant decrease in abnormal behavior observed across housing conditions highlights an extremely important way in which social enrichment may be superior to inanimate enrichment. The data suggest that the presence of a social partner(s) led to more beneficial changes in behavior than did the provision of inanimate enhancements for rhesus monkeys in the studied age range [1-4 years].Abstract of this work has been published in: XVIth Congress of the International Primatological Society/XIXth Conference of the American Society of Primatologists, Abstract 673, 1996; Perlman JE, Schapiro SJ, Suarez SA, Porter LM, Bloomsmith MA; Social housing diminishes the value of inanimate environmental enrichment for yearling rhesus monkeys.