Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK.
Zoological Society of London, London, UK.
Zoo Biol. 2020 Sep;39(5):283-296. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21552. Epub 2020 Aug 19.
Primates, especially apes, are popular with the public, often attracting large crowds. These crowds could cause behavioral change in captive primates, whether positive, neutral, or negative. We examined the impact of visitors on the behavior of six western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), observing the troop over 6 weeks during high season (4.5 hr/day, 35 days, May-July 2016). We used focal scan sampling to determine activity budget and enclosure usage, and focal continuous sampling to identify bouts of anxiety-related behavior (visitor-directed vigilance, self-scratching, and aggression). Both daily zoo-entry numbers (V ) and instantaneous crowds at the exhibit (V ) were measured. Overall, V had little effect across behaviors. However, consistent with the more acute time frame of measurement, V was a better predictor of behavior; at high crowd volumes, we observed significant group-level changes in activity budget (increased inactivity, increased locomotion, and decreased environment-related behaviors), increase in some anxiety-related behaviors, and decreased enclosure usage. Although contributing similar effects, it could not be determined if crowd numbers, composition, or noise most affected the troop, nor any chronic effects of exposure to large crowds. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that measures to minimize the impacts of large crowds at the exhibit would be beneficial. Furthermore, we highlight potential discrepancies between common methods for measuring visitor numbers: V is less sensitive to detecting visitor effects on behavioral indices than V . Future studies should appropriately match the biological time frame of welfare indicators and visitor measures used to ensure the reliability of findings.
灵长类动物，尤其是猿类，深受公众喜爱，经常吸引大批人群。这些人群可能会导致圈养灵长类动物的行为发生变化，无论是积极的、中性的还是消极的。我们考察了游客对 6 只西部低地大猩猩（Gorilla gorilla gorilla）行为的影响，在高客流量季节（每天 4.5 小时，35 天，2016 年 5 月至 7 月）对这群大猩猩进行了超过 6 周的观察。我们使用焦点扫描取样法确定活动预算和围栏使用情况，使用焦点连续取样法确定与焦虑相关的行为发作（面向游客的警戒、自我抓挠和攻击）。我们测量了每日动物园入场人数（V）和展览点的即时人群（V）。总体而言，V 对各种行为的影响不大。然而，与更急性的测量时间框架一致，V 是行为的更好预测指标；在人群数量较高的情况下，我们观察到活动预算（不活动增加、活动增加和环境相关行为减少）、一些与焦虑相关的行为增加以及围栏使用减少的群体水平变化。虽然有类似的影响，但无法确定是人群数量、组成还是噪音对群体的影响最大，也无法确定接触大量人群的任何慢性影响。尽管如此，我们的研究结果表明，采取措施尽量减少展览点的大量人群的影响将是有益的。此外，我们强调了用于测量游客数量的常见方法之间的潜在差异：V 比 V 对检测游客对行为指标的影响的灵敏度更低。未来的研究应适当匹配福利指标和游客测量的生物学时间框架，以确保研究结果的可靠性。
