Gottlieb Daniel H, O'Connor Jillann Rawlins, Coleman Kristine
Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon, USA.
J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2014 Nov;53(6):653-6.
The goal of this project was to evaluate the efficacy of a porch in decreasing feces painting in captive rhesus macaques. The porch is a small extension that is hung on the outside of a monkey's primary home cage. Porches provide many potential benefits to indoor-housed macaques, including opportunities to perch above the ground, additional space, and increased field of view. Rates of feces painting, an abnormal behavior in which the animal smears or rubs feces on a surface, were compared in 3 situations: with porch enrichment, with 'smear board' enrichment (a foraging device commonly used to decrease feces painting), and without either enrichment item. Feces painting was evaluated daily by using a 5-point scale that ranged from 0, no feces present, to 4, multiple large areas of feces. We found that subjects received significantly lower feces painting scores when given porch enrichment or smear board enrichment compared with baseline. Furthermore, subjects received significantly lower feces painting scores with porch enrichment than smear board enrichment. These results demonstrate that the porch is an effective tool to decrease feces painting in captive macaques.
本项目的目标是评估一个门廊在减少圈养恒河猴粪便涂抹行为方面的效果。这个门廊是挂在猴子主要居住笼子外面的一个小延伸部分。门廊为室内饲养的猕猴带来了许多潜在益处，包括在地面上方栖息的机会、额外空间以及扩大的视野。在三种情况下对粪便涂抹率（一种动物在表面涂抹或摩擦粪便的异常行为）进行了比较：有门廊丰富设施、有“涂抹板”丰富设施（一种常用于减少粪便涂抹行为的觅食装置）以及没有任何一种丰富设施。每天使用从0（无粪便）到4（多个大面积粪便）的5分制量表对粪便涂抹情况进行评估。我们发现，与基线相比，给予门廊丰富设施或涂抹板丰富设施时，受试动物的粪便涂抹得分显著更低。此外，与涂抹板丰富设施相比，有门廊丰富设施时受试动物的粪便涂抹得分显著更低。这些结果表明，门廊是减少圈养猕猴粪便涂抹行为的有效工具。
