Theil Jacob H, Beisner Brianne A, Hill Ashley E, McCowan Brenda
Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California;, Email:
Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, Brain, Mind, and Behavior Unit, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis.
J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2017 Mar 1;56(2):122-130.
Conspecific aggression in outdoor-housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) at primate research facilities is a leading source of trauma and can potentially influence animal wellbeing and research quality. Although aggression between macaques is a normal part of daily social interactions, human presence might affect the frequency of various behaviors and instigate increases in conspecific aggression. We sought to determine how and which human management events affect conspecific aggression both immediately after an event and throughout the course of a day. From June 2008 through December 2009, we recorded agonistic encounters among macaques living in 7 social groups in large outdoor field cages. Behavioral data were then synchronized with specific management events (for example, feeding, enclosure cleaning, animal catching) that occurred within or near the enclosure. By using an Information Theoretical approach, 2 generalized linear mixed models were developed to estimate the effects of human management events on 1) aggression after individual management events and 2) daily levels of aggression. Univariate analysis revealed an increase in the rate of aggression after a management event occurred. The best predictor of aggression in a cage was the type of management event that occurred. Various factors including the number of daily management events, the total time of management events, the technicians involved, reproductive season, and their interactions also showed significant associations with daily aggression levels. Our findings demonstrate that human management events are associated with an increase in conspecific aggression between rhesus macaques and thus have implications regarding how humans manage primates in research facilities.
灵长类动物研究设施中圈养在户外的恒河猴（猕猴）的种内攻击行为是创伤的主要来源，并且可能会影响动物的健康和研究质量。虽然猕猴之间的攻击行为是日常社交互动的正常组成部分，但人类的存在可能会影响各种行为的频率，并促使种内攻击行为增加。我们试图确定人类管理活动如何以及哪些活动会在活动后立即以及在一天中影响种内攻击行为。从2008年6月到2009年12月，我们记录了生活在大型户外笼舍中7个社会群体的猕猴之间的争斗遭遇。然后将行为数据与在笼舍内或附近发生的特定管理活动（例如喂食、笼舍清洁、捕捉动物）进行同步。通过使用信息理论方法，开发了2个广义线性混合模型来估计人类管理活动对1）个体管理活动后的攻击行为和2）每日攻击水平的影响。单变量分析显示管理活动发生后攻击率增加。笼舍中攻击行为的最佳预测因素是发生的管理活动类型。包括每日管理活动的数量、管理活动的总时间、涉及的技术人员、繁殖季节及其相互作用在内的各种因素也与每日攻击水平显示出显著关联。我们的研究结果表明，人类管理活动与恒河猴之间种内攻击行为的增加有关，因此对人类在研究设施中管理灵长类动物的方式具有启示意义。
