Great Apes in Zoos -Welfare

[greatapeswelfare-blog]

Great Apes Scholarly Article: Bonobos

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2010.1227

In this research paper, the authors investigated “copulation calls” in female bonobos. Female bonobos will make copulation calls to indicate that they are ready to mate. However, female bonobos will inhibit calling when there is a higher ranked female nearby to prevent female competition. Females will have sexual interactions with each other called “genital contacts”. Sounds are less common but they are indistinguishable from copulation calls. After their experiment, the authors concluded that copulation calls have undergone an evolutionary transition from a purely reproductive to a more general social function.

Resource: 

Clay, Z. Pika, S., Gruber, T., & Zuberbühler, K. (2010).  Female Bonobos Use Copulation Calls as Social Signals. Biology Letters, 7(4).

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Great Apes Scholarly Article: Chimpanzees and Bonobos

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0012438

In this article, the authors studied the differences in cognitive skills in chimpanzees and bonobos. They compared the correct trials in each of the six cognitive scales administered as a function of species, sex, and age. Bonobos scored higher than chimpanzees in the “theory of mind” scale. With this data, they determined that bonobos are more skilled at solving problems that require an understanding of social causality. Whereas chimpanzees are more skilled at solving problems that relate to physical causality. Chimpanzees and bonobos had the same measurements in understanding problems related to spatial comprehension, discriminating quantities, using and comprehending communicative signals and learning from others via a social demonstration.

Reference:

Herrmann E, Hare B, Call J, Tomasello M (2010) Differences in the Cognitive Skills of Bonobos and Chimpanzees. PLoS ONE 5(8): e12438.

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Great Apes Scholarly Article: Gorillas

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10842

In this research paper, many people were looking at genome sequences of gorillas to learn more about hominid evolution. Hominid is a taxonomic family that includes great apes. Past research shows that humans are more closely related to chimpanzees. And that humans are closer genetic-wise to gorillas than orangutans. Sequencing genomes in the past were costly but recent technologies have brought the cost down. Despite this, it is still difficult to sequence the entire genome. There is a discrepancy between fossil and genetic dates of divergence in evolution. There used to be more branches in the genus Homo but they are extinct. In the paper, they state genetics being exchanged between the great apes might have aided their survival in the face of diminishing numbers.

Reference:

Scally, A., Dutheil, J., & Durbin, R. (2012). Insights into Hominid Evolution From the Gorilla Genome Sequence. Nature, 483. 169-175.

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Great Apes Scholarly Article: Orangutans

Switching gears I thought I could share some scholarly articles about great apes. 

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0198

In this article Natacha Mendes, Daniel Hanus, and Josep Call show their results on a research of how smart orangutans are. They tested their intelligence by presenting five orangutans with an out-of-reach peanut floating inside a vertical transparent tube. All five of the orangutans retrieved the peanut in the tube by spitting water into the tube. Even though the first try of getting the peanut with spitting water into the tube did not provide an instant reward the orangutan would continue. After going over their results they believed the actions were most likely problem-solving behaviors. This behavior is different than most animal tool use behavior because the tool used was a liquid. Another difference is that the orangutans could have tried other strategies such as using tools to fish for the reward, breaking the tube, or reaching for the reward. Their working hypothesis is that “great ape tool-use arises from cognitive generalization.”

Resource:

Mendes, N., Hanus, D., & Call, J. (2007). Raising the Level: Orangutans Use Water as a Tool. Biology Letters, 3.

[tehzee]

Who wants to see Steven Irwin with an Orangutan? I know I did.. 

[proj-worldwildlife-blog]

Is It Effective?

Whether the WWF projects, fundraisers, etc. are effective or not is debatable. In my own opinion, I do believe it is effective but only to a certain degree. This is so because although people are aware of the company itself and it’s famous panda logo, they however are not totally aware of what the company does or it’s many projects. Yes, it may be the largest international conservation organization in the world, they need to take more initiative because speaking on my behalf, I had not heard about any of these projects or was hardly aware of what the WWF had done before putting up this project blog.

How I suggest they improve is by making their projects stand out, step out of the box and the more traditional ways of advertising such as posters, PSAs, etc. What they can do is make a compaign that will draw in enough attention globally and not just to a small group. To even start a little controversy (the one for good intentions) would be able to help bring people to be more aware. 

[proj-worldwildlife-blog]

How Do They Promote?

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has many ways of promoting sustainable use of ecosystems. Ways that they try to get this out on a global scale is through different projects and such as Sustainable Fisheries.

Sustainable Fisheries

Sustainable Fisheries was launched in August 2009 and is currently going on. The objectives of this is project is to:

Promote well-managed healthy fisheries 

Raise awareness on overfishing in a global and local context

Encourage action from government and examine possible solutions such as the protection of areas, respect of reproductive cycle and use of appropriate fish-trap mesh size.

Introduce the sustainable seafood concept by engaging retail, gastronomy and corporate sectors in the campaign and encouraging them to promote the “eco-labelling of fish and implement stricter supplier criteria

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Other ways that are get their messages out there on sustainable use of ecosystems and their other causes is through the media such as posters, advertisements, PSAs, fundraisers, and campaigns. 

[greatapeswelfare-blog]

How to Get Involved Continued

Another way to get involved is to learn more about great apes as well as conservation for them. Both WWF, World Wildlife Fund, and US Fish and Wildlife Service offer programs for great ape conservation. WWF has different options for people to help with their program of great ape conservation.

http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/great_apes/chimpanzees/#help

World Wildlife Fund not only helps great apes like chimpanzees but other endangered animals. They also give people the opportunity to take action to speak up about endangered species. 

https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=can_home&_ga=2.222979419.1341477947.1544726697-623467820.1544726697

Most of all the best way to get involved is to learn more about these animals. The more we know about them the easier it is to get involved. Knowing about animals makes it easier to know what is truly an issue with animal welfare. The news doesn’t always tell the public everything and the internet isn’t always correct. It can be hard to know what to look for but there are sources that can help. There is a journal that informs people about gorillas. It’s called the Gorilla Journal. Find out more on their site:

https://www.koko.org/gorilla-journal

[greatapeswelfare-blog]

How to Get Involved With Great Ape Welfare

How to get involved with great apes’ animal welfare is helping zoos with providing items for environmental enrichment. Some zoos have on their website what items they are looking for. These items are usually not that expensive and can be donated from used items that aren’t wanted anymore. The items don’t have to be bought just for the zoo. They can be gently used items that are no longer used.

Here is an example:

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Environmental Enrichment Study

In 1995 there was some research done on what is considered enrichment. In an article called Environmental Enrichment: Increasing the Biological Relevance of Captive Environments in the article Ruth Newberry explained some results. Many authors of other articles and books stated that enrichment should promote natural behavior. The problem is defining natural behavior. Different people define natural behavior in different ways. In the article, Newberry tried to show that by stating, “is it the behavior of captive animals when given more space or allowed outdoors? Is it behaviour adapted to the habitat from which the animals or their predecessors were caught? Does it refer to a wide range of behavior exhibited by wild or feral populations of the same species living in a variety of habitats” (Newberry, 1995)? Rather than focusing on “natural behavior” signs of bad or good welfare can be used. Such as abnormal behavior, which is easier to define. Newberry suggests that conclusions shouldn’t be made about welfare without weighing the costs and benefits of performing the behaviors. In the article, there are three types of enrichment: feeding methods, the physical structure of the environment, and the external environment. Today we have come up with six types of enrichment: sensory, foods/feeding, manipulative/toys, environmental, behavioral/social, and training. In the conclusion of the article, Newberry states that if an animal is going to be released in the future their captive environment should closely resemble the future release site.

Reference:

Newberry, R. C. (1995). Environmental Enrichment: Increasing the Biological Relevance of Captive Environments. Applied Animal Behaviour Science,44(2-4), 229-243.

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Behavior of Lowland Gorillas in Zoos

Going back to how zoos affect behaviors of great apes in zoos. How enclosures effect the behavior on gorillas is seen in the article called Effects of the Environment on the Behaviour of Lowland Gorillas in Zoos by Meder is visitors are higher than the gorillas they are viewed as higher ranked. Moats don’t deter visitors from feeding the animals which can lead to more unwanted behaviors. Visitors can cause stress but they can also provide a diversion for captive gorillas. Most captive gorillas are kept in pairs. In the wild gorillas are in groups that average 5 members. Male captive gorillas are more aggressive to females than in the wild. Even more so if the pair is incompatible. Zoos might also change up the pairs or small groups of gorillas for reproduction or other reasons. In the wild once a harem is established the group remains stable, usually for several years. Gorillas will actively seek places to withdraw and avoid visitors or the sun. However, if there are places for them to withdraw and they are used they are not in the eyes of the public which the visitors do not appreciate. Visitors want to see the animals even though the animal’s natural behavior might make it want to avoid others (Meder, 1992).  

Outside of this scientific paper, I have personally seen where zoo visitors wish to see the animal even when the animal’s natural behavior influences them to not be out where everyone can see. Or the visitors see the animals sleeping and complain that they can’t see them “in action”. I have volunteered at a zoo and they had later hours labeled as “the zoo becomes alive at night.” While this is true for some animals which are nocturnal not all the animals are awake. I had a visitor complain that the lions were sleeping. The visitor did not know that lions sleep about 20 hours in the day. I politely told them to help educate them about the animals but the visitor didn’t seem to care. So, while zoos are helpful in the conservation of animals not everyone who visits zoos are there to learn about the animals. 

Resource: 

Meder, A. (1992). Effects of the Environment on the Behaviour of Lowland Gorillas in Zoos. Primate Report 32, 167-183

[bonoboaday]

Female bonobo Djanoa of Planckendael Zoo in Belgium, whose problem-solving skills have led to her being deemed the smartest ape in the world! <3

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Muke, G.g. gorilla, Utah's Hogle Zoo (photo by Jameson Weston)

In this photo, the type of enrichment is physical and manipulable. This gives the animal a choice for things to do in the captive environment. The items used can also be chewed on without it causing harm to the animal. 

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Enrichment may consist of novel food items. Kwame and Ktembe, G.g. gorilla, Smithsonian National Zoological Park (photo by Jessie Cohen)

Food can be used for enrichment. If the food is complicated to eat or hidden in something, then it takes an effort to get the food. This can encourage natural behaviors of trying to find food in the wild. Pumpkins are sturdy which leads to more effort to eat it. 

[greatapeswelfare-blog]

Chewie, G.g. gorilla, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (photo by Ron Evans)

This picture shows a form of environmental enrichment. This enrichment allows the gorilla to cool off from the water and investigate the object.

[greatapeswelfare-blog]

Environmental Enrichment

One way to fix the problem of captive environments not being stimulated enough is to have environmental enrichment. “Environmental enrichment for gorillas covers a wide variety of topics, which can be broken down into two broad categories: social (relationships with other gorillas, relationships with caretakers) and physical (living space, diet, browse, substrate, and manipulable, nonfood objects)” (Creating). Enrichment needs to not only change the environment but is a biologically relevant addition to the animal’s environment.

Resource used: 

n.a. (n.d.) Creating Better Captive Environments. Retrieved from http://gorillassp.org/