This article provides a brief historical background of the events and circumstances that led to the 1985 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) amendments. It describes the development of the regulations promulgated by the US Department of...
Only social contact satisfies the goal of promoting a wide variety of species-typical activities while at the same time reducing or preventing the development of abnormal behavior... A number of toys should be provided initially...
Since the 1998 publication of The Psychological Well-Being of Nonhuman Primates by the National Research Council, and the 1991 implementation of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act Amendment, many formal and informal nonhuman primate enrichment programs...
Preparation of domestically bred animals for research usually involves some combination of social separation, relocation, resocialization, alterations in physical space, photoperiod, and diet, as well as exposure to novel environments. The research literature that has...
An ethological understanding of a behavioral phenomenon incorporates four levels of explanation: development, mechanism, function, and evolution. The phenomenon of socially-mediated learning has garnered a great deal of attention from ethologists, prominently including primatologists. Gregarious...
Social grooming may have both social and hygienic functions. For this analysis, we assume the ‘pick’ grooming method is more effective at cleaning than stroke and social grooming on parts inaccessible to the groomee is...
The application of positive reinforcement training (PRT) has increased in zoological, laboratory, and research settings in recent years, however there is little literature pertaining to the development and implementation of such programs. Over the past...
Live, direct observations are often used to collect behavioral data. However, the presence of an observer may affect the behavior of unhabituated subjects. This study was conducted to determine the effect of an observer’s presence...
Circulating cortisol levels are often used to assess the biological stress response in captive primates. Some methods commonly used to collect blood samples may alter the stress response. As such, noninvasive means to analyze cortisol...
Obesity is a concern with nonhuman primates (NHPs) housed in captivity for extended periods of time, mostly due to overfeeding and lack of exercise. This is often compounded by environmental enrichment programs that include different...