Captive Animals: A Zoo-Based Study

I primarily observed three orangutans, one male, one female, and one juvenile, of Sumatran and Bornean descent, scientifically known as Pongo abelli and Pongo pygmaeus, respectively, and to a lesser extent, two gibbons known as siamangs, or Symphalangus syndactylus. These primates share the same enclosure in the San Diego Zoo in California. I observed the orangutans from 12:58 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. CST on September 19th. During this time frame, the three orangutans mainly stayed high up in their man-made structures, consisting of multiple metal bars covered with nets, ropes, and hammocks. The female and juvenile orangutans stayed above ground from 12:58 P.M. to 1:31 P.M., and again from 1:48 P.M. until 2:00 P.M, approximately 45 minutes. During

” Just a decade ago, animal rights activists advocated the “liberation” of apes in zoos, some unaware that a revolution in great ape exhibitry was under way worldwide. Today, 40 AZA zoos are currently planning or implementing significant improvements in their elephant exhibits (J. Maddy, personal communication, June 11, 2006). Many primate experts endorse exhibits designed to provide appropriate social stimulation and challenge the animal’s intellect. What is good for apes may be equally good for elephants”, (Maple 65).

The research for this assignment was at The Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest. The assignment was to observe the gorilla and the humans observing them, to write a compare and contrast paper. At the exhibition there were two gorilla tribes, one is a bachelor tribe which is all male and the other is Ernie 's tribe, the silverback, he lives with 3-4 female gorillas and two baby gorillas. Low land gorillas are unique animals; they belong to the group of primates and are considered one of closest relative to the human species. In order to do this assignment I observed the gorillas and the humans for the same amount of time and took down notes on their environment, physical appearance, behavior, and social structure. This allows one to realize

Primates beguile me, as all life and nature does; for much of my life I have wanted to volunteer my abilities of assisting conservation. As the years have gone by me the opportunity never presented itself in this manner and now that it finally has, my mind cannot help but be joyous. As a child at the zoo or the animal shelter, I always wanted to be inside with those strange and amazing creatures, be they Gibbons, cats, snakes or spiders. My hands held a python and my shoulder served as a branch for a tarantula when I was still a child, all of those moments were gratifying and made me feel fully cognizant of the natural worlds around me. In that brief time I stepped out from the shadows of the excursionist and into the field of the specialist,

Over the past two months, I had the pleasure of visiting the Los Angeles Zoo on two occasions to observe primates for this project. Why two visits? Well, my initial observation notes were inadvertently thrown away in an unintentional fit of neatness. These observations, therefore, were taken on a warm afternoon in November 2014. Having carefully reread the paper requirements and suggestions before my second visit, I made a more conscious choice of the primates I was about to observe so there would be a more obvious contrast between their behaviors (on my first visit I had observed two different monkey species.) In this document, I will share my observations of the behaviors of Squirrel Monkeys and Bornean orangutans.

Western Lowland Gorillas are much like humans and like to interact with each other. This is something that was consistent in the zoo. There were no obvious signs of stress or stereotypic behaviors, which are commonly negative behaviors experienced in captivity. The zoo however could modify the exhibit to make the gorillas better for the gorillas. This can be accomplished by adding privacy screens, playing naturalistic,

Primates, especially Chimpanzee 's, are one of the closest relatives to Homo sapiens on planet Earth today. With the development of zoos in modern society, the observation of these animals has become a relatively easy task and have allowed for humans to observe their actions and behaviors in close proximity and in an in-depth manner. I have been to numerous zoos throughout my lifetime and have viewed all sorts of different primates and in particular chimpanzee 's. Chimpanzees are highly interesting as they are closely related to humans and many of their behaviors are similar to that of humans yet, they are taken out of their natural environments and put in these so called zoo 's. Over my time viewing these animals from previous trips to the zoo, it seems that every time I went to the Chimpanzee exhibit there was less excitement than anticipated and the Chimp 's seemed to very relaxed and essentially just sat or laid around for hours upon hours. After taking this into consideration, I wanted to test the reasons for this relaxed state and answer the question of why the Chimpanzee 's seem so relaxed and somewhat docile when in captivity? Why are they so relaxed around the hundreds of zoo goers that go in and out of the zoo every day? Do they not view them as a threat? These questions helped me form my hypothesis of if a chimpanzee is in captivity it will have a more relaxed nature than it being in its own natural habitat due to having no predators and scheduled feeding times.

Over the centuries, wild animals have always fascinated humans. As a result, wild animals have been put on display, but the logistics of these displays have changed throughout the years to resemble zoos humans now visit (Rutledge et al, 2014). Enclosures were once very small and did not provide the opportunity for stimulation that the animals need. There has been a shift from small, sterile enclosures to larger, more natural enclosures (Shepherdson, 1998). This change in the care of captive animals was caused by an interest in studying the animals (Shepherdson, 1998). Studies have revealed the importance of providing captive animals with an environment in which behaviors typical of the captive species, when in the wild, can be exercised in the enclosures in which they are housed (Shepherdson, 1998). By mimicking a natural habitat, scientists are able to observe more natural behavior. If enrichment is not provided, stereotypic behavior such as pacing, aggression, and abnormal behavior, may occur. In order to discourage these stereotypic behaviors, zoologists have begun implementing enrichment programs to stimulate the captive animals to exhibit more natural behaviors (Swaisgood and Shepherdson, 2005).

Matschie’s tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) population is declining significantly, so to conserve this species, captive breeding programs have been conducted in zoos. Research has shown presence of visitors can have negative impacts on animal welfare, but the welfare implications of visitors on tree kangaroos have not yet been examined. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of visitor presences on Matschie's tree kangaroo welfare. In this experiment, 10 tree kangaroos will be examined by testing two treatment groups: no visitor contact and exposure to visitors. Treatment groups will be tested for 1-day period in a total of 10 study days and 5 days for each treatment group. Instantaneous point sampling and continuous sampling

Different populations have been seen reacting negatively, while others have reacted positively or neutrally. In Wells (2005) it was suggested that crowd size had a negative impact on the gorillas at the Belfast Zoological Gardens in Northern Ireland. The gorillas had increased aggression during large crowd sizes and appeared less stressful during low visitor periods. However, some populations of gorillas did not show an increase in undesirable behavior in relation to larger crowd size. In Kuhar (2008) there were no significant findings that suggested crowd size played any role in the behavior of the gorillas. In a study conducted by Ross and Lukas (2006) it was found that during crowds of high density or low density alike, there were no significant differences in gorilla behavior. Interestingly, in Wells (2006) the researchers suggest that some auditory stimulation, such as that from visitors, can be a form of enrichment for the gorillas rather than a source of stress. Similarly, in Stoinski et al., (2012) there were no significant effects of crowd size for some of the behaviors they analyzed. Other behaviors they observed did change in relation to crowd size such as contact aggression and undesirable behavior but those behaviors changes were not seen as significant and it is suggested that crowds may affect some individuals and not

The topic chosen was behavioural implications occurring in the red ruffed lemurs inhibited within a captive environment due being interested in the species and suitable for converting into a dissertation poster. Before conducting the literature based project background checks were considered to ensure all factors could be fulfilled in the

One of my aims for the experiment was to compare mammals and reptiles activity budgets. My second aim was to see if group size has an impact on activity levels. My final aim was to see if the animals use all of their enclosure. We observed ten different species at Paignton Zoo five mammals and five reptiles. We recorded what the animals were doing in ten minutes for activity budgets and also their enclosure use for twenty minutes. We found that mammals do have a higher activity budget then reptiles. We also found that the animals were favouring certain areas of their enclosure these were areas where there was shelter food and water close by and enrichment.

In this practical the aim was to go to the Adelaide Zoo and investigate whether a smaller sized enclosure results in less active animal behaviour. The hypothesis is that if animals have a smaller sized enclosure it results in less active animal behaviour. The group of animals chosen to study was primates and the particular species are; Siamangs, Baboons, Orang-utans and Gibbons. These animals were chosen because they all have different enclosure sizes so their behaviour can be recorded and then compared. The practical involved a particular primate being observed and their behaviour being recorded every minute, for fifteen minutes. Then the next animal was observed and the process was repeated for all four primates, twice. The independent variables

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles zoo on a beautiful, sunny Thursday (October 19th). Although I arrived off schedule which left a minimal amount of time to observe primates, I managed my time well. After being told that the larger animals get put away earlier, I figured my first stop would be at an ape enclosure. The ape I chose to see that day was the gorilla. The time that I began my observation was at approximately 3:05. At that time only one ape was quite visible and he was sitting at the front making eye contact with me making it seem as if he is HABITUATED. Next, post gorilla watching, I had the chance to take a gander at the ring railed lemurs at 3:40. These prosimians all had their own personalities which interested me deeply. Lastly, and certainly not least on my journey through the LA zoo, I had the chance of looking at the mandrills which were once classified as baboons. Considering that two baby mandrills were present and only a month old, this was my favorite exhibit to see because of their high energy and randomness of actions.

“Zoos try to make the animal’s enclosure as interesting as possible. One way of doing this is through ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT. Enrichment is the use of novel objects or ideas to increase the natural behaviour of the animals. Different objects and methods are used for different animals.” (1)