Reuter Kim E, Clarke Tara A, LaFleur Marni, Ratsimbazafy Jonah, Holiniaina Kjeldgaard Fabiola, Rodriguez Lucia, Schaeffer Toby, Schaefer Melissa S
Conservation International, Africa Field Division, Gaborone, Botswana.
Folia Primatol (Basel). 2018;89(1):81-96. doi: 10.1159/000477400. Epub 2018 Apr 10.
Primates are kept as pets for various reasons including as indicators of wealth. Ownership of primates can also be influenced by religion. In Madagascar, thousands of lemurs are kept as pets, but the roles of wealth and religion in the ownership of captive lemurs have not been explored. We use quantitative and qualitative data to examine these aspects of ownership. Quantitative data were collected (July to August 2016) in households (n = 596) of 12 urban and rural towns in Madagascar using semi-structured interviews. International standards for research ethics were followed. Research was approved by an ethics oversight committee. We also opportunistically visited 13 religious facilities. Qualitative data were used to frame the context of the quantitative data. We found that pet lemur owners do not speak about their lemurs as a symbol of wealth, but non-owners associate pet lemurs with wealth. Therefore, status/wealth may be a motivating factor in the ownership of pet lemurs. We also found evidence that Catholic entities in Madagascar sometimes take in captive lemurs when the owner can no longer care for the animal (being viewed as animal-friendly institutions). However, we did not find evidence of religion (institutional or traditional) influencing the ownership of pet lemurs.
灵长类动物被当作宠物饲养有各种原因，包括作为财富的象征。灵长类动物的拥有情况也可能受到宗教的影响。在马达加斯加，成千上万的狐猴被当作宠物饲养，但财富和宗教在圈养狐猴拥有情况中的作用尚未得到探讨。我们使用定量和定性数据来研究拥有情况的这些方面。定量数据于2016年7月至8月在马达加斯加12个城乡镇的家庭（n = 596）中通过半结构化访谈收集。遵循国际研究伦理标准。研究得到了伦理监督委员会的批准。我们还借机走访了13个宗教场所。定性数据用于构建定量数据的背景。我们发现，宠物狐猴的主人并不将他们的狐猴作为财富的象征来谈论，但非主人将宠物狐猴与财富联系在一起。因此，地位/财富可能是拥有宠物狐猴的一个推动因素。我们还发现有证据表明，马达加斯加的天主教实体有时会在主人无法再照顾动物时收留圈养的狐猴（被视为善待动物的机构）。然而，我们没有发现宗教（机构或传统宗教）影响宠物狐猴拥有情况的证据。
