Camacho, J. N., Britz, W., Perlman, J. E. et al. 2010. Interactive enrichment housing for nonhuman primates. American Association for Laboratory Animal Science [AALAS] Meeting Official Program, 666 (Abstract #PS46).

Environmental enrichment is commonly provided to diversify an animal’s surroundings while maintained in captivity. Traditional enrichment approaches may not provide sufficient environmental complexity and cognitive stimulation. Consequently, housing was designed for laboratory nonhuman primates to enable choice and environmental control through reasoning, memory, and hand-eye coordination. This caging system, named cognitive housing options in captive environments (CHOICE), is equipped with an interactive touch screen that allows the animal to control audio, video, and lighting for computer-based play enrichment. Animals are also able to control their degree of social contact with a paired conspecific and can modulate their immediate ambient temperature via an infrared heat source. Because interactive technologies allow monkeys, like humans, to use complex cognitive behaviors, we believe this caging system may be of prophylactic and therapeutic value for maladaptive behaviors as well as offer insight into individual animal’s enrichment preferences. We evaluated the CHOICE system for safety and routine use in a laboratory environment. Caging components were safe to both animals and personnel, and durable for individually housed macaques. Effective sanitization following routine cage wash was confirmed with a commercial microbial swab product. Activation of the infrared heat device resulted in a change in the animal’s behavior, from spending approximately 90% of the time while awake on a perch away from the heat source to spending approximately 80% of the time on the cage floor close to the device while body and room temperatures were within normal ranges, suggesting a preference for added warmth. In summary, the CHOICE caging system is a novel housing environment in which animals can be safely housed and withstands daily husbandry tasks and cleaning. Further evaluations will be performed to assess the CHOICE system under paired housing conditions and for macaques presenting with stereotypy and other abnormal behaviors.