EAPSI: The Impact of Web Based Tourist Education on Human-Tibetan Macaque Interactions

游客的存在和噪音水平会影响猕猴的压力水平，如果处理不当，可能会导致潜在的危险的灵长类与人类的互动。这项研究将有助于确定通过特定地点的网站教育游客是否会改变游客对西藏猕猴的行为，减少游客与猕猴的攻击性接触，并减少猕猴的压力指示行为。这项研究将在旅游胜地安徽的野生猴谷进行，与来自安徽大学的藏族猕猴专家李金华博士和夏冬坡博士合作。一个包含网站具体信息的教育网站将通过二维码提供30天。研究人员将使用采样方法记录游客与猕猴的互动，以及游客每天的噪音水平，以记录行为。研究结果将表明，是否可以使用智能手机技术(网站)来降低游客压力诱导行为的比率，帮助黄山市园林局(HGB)的工作人员改进对猴子的管理。游客与猕猴的日常互动对猕猴和游客产生了负面影响，如猕猴攻击性和自我定向行为的发生率更高，人畜共患病的传播，以及压力水平的增加。游客每天在安徽的野生猴谷与藏猕猴互动，中国。一个包含特定地点信息(即行为准则、公园规则、保护)的教育网站将通过二维码随机提供30天。游客和猕猴的互动将使用人类和猕猴人种图进行记录。研究表明，分贝水平和猕猴压力水平之间存在相关性，因此每天都会记录分贝水平。研究人员将比较猕猴和人类行为的频率、平均分贝水平以及网站开机和关机的天数。研究人员预测，在“网站关闭”的日子里，访问者表现出更少的敌对行为和更低的分贝水平，猴子的攻击性和自我导向行为的比率也比在“网站关闭”的日子里要低。结果将表明，智能手机技术是否有助于降低游客的压力诱导性行为，帮助黄山园林局(HGB)的工作人员改进对猴子的管理。该奖项由东亚和太平洋暑期学院项目设立，支持一名美国研究生的夏季研究，由美国国家科学基金会和中国科技部联合资助。

Tourist presence and noise levels impacts macaques stress levels and can lead to potentially dangerous primate-human interactions if not handled properly. This study will help determine if educating tourists with a site specific website will change tourist behaviors towards Tibetan macaques, reduce tourist-macaque aggressive encounters, and reduce macaque stress-indicating behavior. This research will be conducted at Valley of the Wild Monkeys in Anhui, China, a tourist destination, in collaboration with Tibetan macaque experts, Dr. Jin-Hua Li and Dr. Dongpo Xia, from Anhui University. An educational website with site specific information will be made available through QR codes for 30 days. Researchers will record visitor-macaque interactions, and tourist noise levels daily using sampling methods to record behaviors. The results will indicate whether smartphone technology (website) can be used to reduce rates of stress inducing visitor behaviors, assisting Huangshan Garden Bureau (HGB) staff in their attempts to refine management of the monkeys.Daily visitor-macaque interactions have negative impacts on macaques and visitors such as higher rates of macaque aggressive and self-directed behaviors, zoonotic disease transfer, and increased levels of stress. Tourists interact daily with Tibetan macaques at Valley of the Wild Monkeys in Anhui, China. An educational website with site specific information (i.e. guidelines for conduct, park rules, conservation) will be made available through QR codes for 30 randomized days. Visitor-macaque interactions will be recorded using human and macaque ethograms. Research shows a correlation between decibel levels and macaque stress levels, so decibel levels will be recorded daily. Researchers will compare frequency of macaque and human behaviors, average decibel levels, and website "on" and "off" days. Researchers predict on "website on" days, visitors will exhibit fewer antagonistic behaviors and lower decibel levels, and monkeys will show lower rates of aggression and self-directed behaviors than on "website off" days. The results will indicate whether smartphone technology can help reduce rates of stress-inducing visitor behaviors, assisting Huangshan Garden Bureau (HGB) staff in their attempts to refine management of the monkeys.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.