Enrichment for Nonhuman Primates (2006)

Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW)

Abstract

This books serves as an introduction to the basic behavior and environmental enrichment. In baboons boredom, stress and, ultimately, problem behavior may result from confinement in small enclosures, lack of enrichment activities, solitary housing ... Examples of abnormal behavior patterns .... are hair eating and regurgitation. .. More severe problems, such as self-biting, also have been reported in captive baboons. ... Captive chimpanzees may develop bad habits, including strange behaviors not normally seen in the wild. [e.g. hair plucking] ... Diarrhea may be a response to psychological stress. ... Because of the intrinsic social nature of macaques, pair or group housing of compatible animals is extremely important. ... Because of the animals' [macaques] tendency to flee upward when escaping a perceived threat, they benefit from perches, shelves or other structures that increase the three-dimensional space of the enclosure. Generally, older macaques prefer a non-moving shelf or perch, while the younger ones will readily use swings. ... Because the monkeys will chew on these toys, they should be relatively durable, such as heavy-duty dog toys. ... Rotating different toys in the enclosure and removing them periodically will help to keep the toys novel and increase the animals' interest in them. ... Abnormal behaviors are an undesirable consequence of captive housing, reflecting an inadequate environment for maintaining the animal. ... Redirection of an abnormal behavior [e.g., via fleece etc.] is not a 'cure' and should only be regarded as a temporary correction. ... Self-injurious behaviors ... such as self hair-pulling and self-biting, often are the result of unusual stress . They also occur in squirrel monkeys where 'pacing' may be eliminated by increasing the animal's available travel paths by installing additional perches.