Cassidy, L., Semple, S., Hannibal, D. et al. 2015. Behavioural and physiological effects of housing type on laboratory housed female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Folia Primatologica 86(4), 259-60.

Due to the despotic nature of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and their frequent use in biomedical research, it is important to understand the impact that standard housing practices can have on individuals of this species in order to improve practices and maximize laboratory primate well-being. This study takes advantage of existing pair housing conditions that occur at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC): (1) intermittent pair housing, which involves the daily separation of pair-mates often due to suspected feeding aggression, and (2) continuous pair housing, where pair-mates are rarely separated. Study subjects were 24 adult female rhesus macaques, 12 initially intermittently housed and 12 initially continuously housed. These pairs were studied in their initial pairing condition for two weeks, after which their pairing condition was experimentally changed (e.g. intermittent to continuous) and they were studied for an additional three weeks. Behavioural observations recorded affiliative behaviour, status signals, aggression, social compatibility behaviour and behaviours indicative of anxiety or stress. Additionally, each animal was non-invasively physiologically sampled for afternoon urine and these samples analysed for free cortisol (a biomarker of stress). Behavioural and physiological measures were compared between intermittent and continuous contact pairing conditions. Change in behaviour over time after the initial pairing condition is modified was also explored. I will present the results of this study and explore their implications in this poster. This study complies with theEuropean Directive 2010/63/EU and the International Primatological Society Guidelines for the Use of Nonhuman Primates in Research. Approvals for this study have been obtained from the CNPRC Research Advisory Board, University of California Davis Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and the University of Roehampton Ethics Committee.