Meeting cognitive, behavioral, and social needs of primates in captivity

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

  • Catherine F. Talbot
  • Lisa A. Reamer
  • Susan P. Lambeth
  • Steven J. Schapiro
  • Sarah F. Brosnan

Addressing the welfare needs of nonhuman primates in captivity is a significant challenge due to the differences among different species, sexes, ages, dominance groups, and individuals. Interventions that increase species typical behaviors and/or reduce atypical behaviors or stress for one species, group, individual, or context may cause the opposite in others. One area that has recently gained substantial attention is species' cognitive needs, which are particularly important for highly encephalized species such as nonhuman primates. In addition, behavioral and social needs are critical for species that have extended life spans and live in complex social groups. In this chapter, we summarize the cognitive, behavioral, and social needs of primates, focusing on the ways in which they vary among species. As we cannot cover each of the hundreds of primate species, we focus on issues that are likely to be important for most of us involved in research and captive management and draw examples from taxa commonly held in captivity, including apes, macaques, callitrichids, and capuchin monkeys. In each section, we outline the ecological or evolutionary basis of primates' needs and discuss behavioral management strategies designed to meet these needs in captive settings. We hope that this summary of the cognitive, behavioral, and social welfare needs of captive nonhuman primates is useful in informing which enrichment strategies will be the most effective for which species and context.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNonhuman Primate Welfare : From History, Science, and Ethics to Practice
PublisherSpringer
Publication date2023
Pages267-305
ISBN (Print)9783030827076
ISBN (Electronic)9783030827083
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

    Research areas

  • Delay of gratification, Memory, Planning, Social interaction, Social learning, Theory of mind, Tool use, Welfare

ID: 348162203