Creating better links between great ape researchers and zoos and sanctuaries to increase wild-type behaviours in captive animals

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Time is running out for our great ape relatives that are centre stage in the balance between improving the quality of human lives and living within the Earth's limits. Orangutans for example inhabit prime areas for timber extraction and palm oil plantations; bonobos inhabit areas of prolonged warfare and mountain gorillas inhabit areas that are crucial for minerals such as Coltan and for oil. If habitat destruction continues apace all great apes will be extinct in the wild within 20 years (World Conservation Union [IUCN]).In parallel with efforts to manage wild populations and habitats sustainably, ex-situ conservation (zoos and sanctuaries) is essential. The ability of sanctuaries to reintroduce great apes back into the wild and of zoos to 'conserve the whole organism' relies on encouraging apes to exhibit the behaviours that are a vital part of the species ability to survive in natural habitats. Great apes are, however, some of the most difficult species to keep successfully in captivity. Health problems, such as obesity, are common, and some display signs of stress, which may relate to a lack of species-specific physical and mental activity. As stewards of these species for current and future generations, zoos and sanctuaries need to be empowered with effective tools to ensure healthy, wild-type captive populations within a range of budgets.At Birmingham, my colleagues and I have created an 'Enclosure Design Tool' (EDT); an interactive computer interface that translates research on wild apes into a format zoos can use to enhance ape welfare. The tool compares behavioural ecology data collected from zoo chimps to data profiles we have generated for wild chimps. It then makes recommendations for how to modify enclosures to elicit missing or under-represented wild-type behaviours. A further dataset is collected after the modifications, and the EDT quantifies whether the changes to the enclosure have been successful. Our results are excellent; for example we have significantly increased the chimps' level of arboreal locomotion and have instigated key wildtype behaviours that had been absent. The EDT has tremendous promise to significantly improve the lives of captive great apes. EDTs for zoo gorillas, orangutans and bonobos are in development and we have just begun a project to develop EDTs for sanctuary chimps and orangutans.The objectives of my Fellowship application are to: 1. work with great ape researchers and zoos to share knowledge, expertise and ambitions to generate tangible outcomes for the welfare of captive great apes and for the quality of academic research in zoos and the wild. This will be partly through working in partnership with BIAZA (the UK Zoo's representative body) to create a new Great Ape Welfare Party that will bring researchers, zoo practitioners, policy makers and animal welfare groups together to find common ground and innovative solutions to the unique problems that each discipline experiences.2. work with the zoo and sanctuary communities to support them in the adoption of the EDTs and to make sure the EDTs meet their requirements3. Influence zoo policy and Best Practise Guidelines to better understand and reflect the biological needs of captive great apes, based on their natural behaviour and ecology 4. extend the EDT concept to at least one non-ape zoo species.I have been fortunate enough to study great apes in the wild, tracking orangutans through the Indonesian rainforest. I hope that in my Fellowship I can work with zoos, sanctuaries and all their stakeholders to use my experience to improve the welfare of captive great apes and improve the success of ape reintroductions back into the wild. I would also like to help zoo visitors see zoo apes behaving just like their wild relatives. Then they too can feel how magical it is, and how privileged we are, to be able to see our closest living animal relatives in such close proximity.