TAILORING BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT TO REARING AND RESEARCH

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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. The USDA Draft Policy on Environmental Enhancement for Nonhuman Primates has been developed to provide more specific guidelines as to what measures sufficiently address the psychological needs of captive primates, but research is needed to guide its implementation. This project is providing direct benefit to the primate well-being and management of the Tulane National Primate Research Center colony. Rhesus macaques are being studied due to their widespread use in biomedicine and the need for enhanced management of monkeys with the backgrounds to be explored in this project. Focus is placed on social grouping and human interaction as enrichment. Using behavioral, physiological, and clinical data, we are 1) comparing the effects of continuous full contact, continuous protected contact, and intermittent full contact for pair-housing rhesus macaques, and 2) comparing the effects of several quantities and forms of human/primate interaction on the behavioral well-being of singly-housed individuals of both sexes. Subjects are drawn from the following populations: those mother-reared in a social setting, those mother-reared without other social partners, and nursery-reared individuals, some with and some without peer contact in infancy. Preliminary analyses have found that 1) both continous and intermittent full contact pair housing confer similar behavioral benefits, most of which were not observed in protected contact, and 2) mixed effects of unstructured interaction and 20 min./wk. of positive reinforcement training were observed, but only among the rearing categories involving mother-rearing. For example, reductions in anxiety-related behaviors and some abnormal behavior categories were observed, but reduced affiliative behavior and increased inactivity was observed as well. No behavioral changes were detected among subjects with a variety of abnormal rearing backgrounds, nor with smaller amounts of training. This project aims to provide the scientific underpinning for decisions relating to the changing regulatory climate governing the behavioral management of non-human primates.