THE EFFECT OF ENRICHMENT DEVICES ON THE BEHAVIOR OF FEMALE RHESUS MACAQUES

这个子项目是众多研究子项目之一

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Nonhuman primates spend much of their day foraging for food in the wild; however, this time is often reduced in a laboratory setting. Many facilities provide enrichment devices or manipulanda to their monkeys in an effort to promote foraging and manipulation. These devices, which have holes through which monkeys can obtain food, are put on the outside of cages, and are filled with trail mix and produce. We provide monkeys with foraging devices on a rotating basis (i.e., two weeks with a device, two weeks without a device, followed by two weeks with a different device). While there has been an increase in the use of such manipulanda, there have been few studies examining the best way to provide these devices to monkeys, to increase the amount of time they spend foraging. This study examined the best ways to provide foraging enrichment to cage-housed monkeys.