The Effect of Fission-Fusion Zoo Housing on Hormonal and Behavioral Indicators of Stress in Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)
The Effect of Fission-Fusion Zoo Housing on Hormonal and Behavioral Indicators of Stress in Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)
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DOI：
10.1007/s10764-014-9765-5
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发表时间：
2014-04-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Weingrill, Tony
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Amrein, Martin;Heistermann, Michael;Weingrill, Tony
如果动物园更加重视圈养动物特定物种的需求，其福利就可以得到改善。在野外，猩猩生活在裂变融合的社会体系中，过着半独居的生活方式。然而，大多数动物园将猩猩固定在群体中，这可能会给它们带来压力。荷兰阿珀尔多伦的 Apenheul 灵长类动物公园在模拟裂变融合社会系统中饲养了 14 只婆罗洲猩猩。为了评估这种住房系统如何影响压力指标，我们测量了粪便糖皮质激素代谢物（fGCM）并确定了自我导向行为（抓挠和自我梳理）的比例。我们将 Apenheul 动物的 fGCM 浓度与动物园永久饲养的猩猩的 fGCM 浓度进行了比较。此外，我们还测试了群体规模、访客数量、性别、年龄和群体组成变化对 Apenheul 猩猩 fGCM 浓度和自我导向行为比例的影响。与永久群体中饲养的婆罗洲猩猩相比，我们没有发现群体规模对 fGCM 或 Apenheul 裂变聚变饲养系统中的自我导向行为有影响。此外，Apenheul 猩猩中的 fGCM 浓度随着游客数量的增加而显着增加。访客数量也会影响自我导向行为的比例，并且抓挠的平均比例与 fGCM 浓度的平均值呈正相关。尽管这些结果表明，Apenheul 的裂变融合住房系统减少了导致婆罗洲猩猩社会压力的群体规模效应，但它们也表明，如果要改善圈养灵长类动物和其他动物园动物的福祉，游客是一个需要减轻的重要因素。
The welfare of captive animals could be improved if zoos were to place more emphasis on their species-specific needs. In the wild, orangutans live in a fission-fusion social system and have a semisolitary lifestyle. However, most zoos keep orangutans in permanent groups, which may be stressful for them. Apenheul Primate Park in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, houses 14 Bornean orangutans in a simulated fission-fusion social system. To assess how this housing system affects indicators of stress, we measured fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM) and determined proportions of self-directed behavior (scratching and autogrooming). We compared fGCM concentrations of the Apenheul animals to those of zoo orangutans kept in permanent groups. In addition, we tested the effect of group size, visitor number, sex, age, and change of group composition on fGCM concentrations and proportions of self-directed behavior in the Apenheul orangutans. In contrast to Bornean orangutans housed in permanent groups, we did not find a group size effect on fGCM or on self-directed behavior in Apenheul's fission-fusion housing system. In addition, fGCM concentrations in Apenheul orangutans increased significantly with visitor numbers. Visitor number also affected proportions of self-directed behavior, and mean proportions of scratching were positively correlated with mean values of fGCM concentrations. Although these results suggest that the fission-fusion housing system in Apenheul reduces the group size effect leading to social stress in Bornean orangutans, they also show that visitors are an important factor that needs to be mitigated if the well-being of captive primates and other zoo animals is to be improved.