Course PrimBio 29/10

Course PrimBio 29/10
Primate Behaviour, Environmental Enrichment, and Ethical Aspects
29/10 -01/11/2007

Primate behaviour and environmental enrichment is a main topic for the welfare of captive primates. The general and social behaviour of primates will be highlighted in the first part of this course, followed by sessions on the behavioural needs of the different primate species. These are important for their psychological and physical well-being. Another session is dedicated to environmental enrichment which is essential for the quality of life of kept primates.Our strong responsibility for the welfare of captive primates requires that ethical guidelines and corresponding legislation is observed. We have included these two topics to meet the current and forthcoming trends. Aspects of primate communication are addressed in the final course section. A forum for discussions will be provided for all these issues.

Schedule

Monday, 29.10.
08:30 am	Registration
09:00	Welcome, Information about EUPRIM-Net and the Course Series Eckhard Heymann, Deike Terruhn
09:30	General Behaviour Karolina Westlund, SMI, Sweden
12:00	Lunch Break at DPZ
01:00 pm	Social Behaviour, 1st part Karolina Westlund, SMI, Sweden
03:00	Coffee Break Group Photograph
03:30	Social Behaviour, 2nd part Karolina Westlund, SMI, Sweden
05:00	End of Session

05:15	Guided Tour through the DPZ Facilities
06:30	Dinner at DPZ*
07:30	Social Evening: Nature Movie and more - DPZ

Tuesday, 30.10.
09:00 am	Behavioral Needs, 1st part Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling, Scotland
12:00	Lunch Break at University Cafeteria
01:00 pm	Behavioral Needs, 2nd part Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling, Scotland
03:00	Coffee Break
03:30	Behavioral Needs, 3rd part Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling, Scotland
05:00	End of Session

06:00	Guided City Tour / Town of Göttingen
07:00	Dinner in a Restaurant in the Town Centre (optional)

Wednesday, 31.10.
09:00 am	Environmental Enrichment, 1st part Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling, Scotland
12:00	Lunch Break at University Cafeteria
01:00 pm	Environmental Enrichment, 2nd part Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling, Scotland
03:00	Coffee Break
03:30	Environmental Enrichment, 3rd part Hannah Buchanan-Smith, University of Stirling, Scotland
05:00	End of Session

Thursday, 01.11.
09:00 am	Ethics and Law Hans Sigg, UZH/ETH Zürich, Switzerland
12:00	Lunch Break at University Cafeteria
01:00 pm	Vocal and Visual Communication, 1st part, 2nd part Julia Fischer, DPZ
03:00	Coffee Break
03:30	Olfactory Communication Eckhard Heymann, DPZ
04:30	Closing Remarks (until 04:45)

05:00	Optional Exam (1 hour)

	*Extra Cost for Dinner (15 € - has to be booked and paid on the first day of course if you like to participate)

Abstracts

General Behaviour and Social Behaviour

Karolina Westlund, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna

Understanding monkey behaviour is of vital importance when making welfare assessments and detecting early signs of incompatibility and potential future aggression in primate groups. This lecture will summarize the main characteristics of primate behaviour, giving examples from the most commonly used laboratory primate species. We will discuss the importance of knowing the natural history of the species in question, such as habitat (is the species tree-dwelling or ground-dwelling?), the composition of social groups (single-male or multi-male?), patterns of migration (male of female dispersal?). Furthermore, primate species are diverse in the choice of diet (insectivore, frugivore, folivore) and thus have different behaviours associated with food acquisition. They react differently to potential predation (vertical flight reactions, sentry behaviour, alarm calls) and need to be given species-appropriate opportunities to react accordingly to perceived threats. The concept of time budgets or activity budgets as a useful tool will be discussed. Primate communication (facial expressions, postures, vocalisations) will be summarized, as well as play, grooming behaviour, aggression and reconciliation. Recognizing and dealing with deviant behaviour and behavioural indicators of stress (overgrooming, hyperaggression, self-injurious behaviour, stereotypies, learned helplessness) will also be discussed. In addition, primate cognition will be briefly mentioned. The ethological perspective in captive primate management is important in order to increase welfare, reduce stress and produce a better research model.

---

Environmental Enrichment for Captive Primates

Hannah Buchanan-Smith, Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Scotland

It is vital to provide high-quality captive conditions for primates not only to ensure their good welfare, but for the quality of research conducted upon them. In these presentations over two days, I shall outline the goals of enrichment to improve the quality of life of the primates, and their ability to cope with challenges. The behavioural needs of primates may be particularly difficult to cater for in captive environments due to the social and physical complexity of their natural habitats and their intelligence. Sophisticated methods to prevent fear, boredom, and stress are required. I shall use numerous examples of social, occupational, physical, sensory and nutritional enrichment, in a range of primates most commonly kept in laboratories, and outline the theoretical underpinnings of successful enrichment techniques (such as predictability, complexity, choice and control). Techniques to monitor how successful the enrichment is, and to determine the significance of enrichment will be covered. The organisation of effective enrichment programmes will be described, together with approaches to solve behavioural management problems. The barriers to implementing more successful enrichment will be explored, within the scientific framework and time constraints within busy laboratories. There will be a wide variety of presentation styles, including videos, and breakout group discussions to allow interchange of ideas and active engagement. Participants should leave with enthusiasm, and equipped with new ideas, and the techniques and skills at hand, to return to facilities to implement a wide range of enrichment for primates in their care.

---

Ethics and Law

Hans Sigg, UZH/ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Some of the most important approaches to bioethics will be presented. The main principles of ethical reasoning are discussed and some specific topics are addressed: Are Primates different from other mammals? What is the ethical impact of it? Do cognitive abilities be prone for suffering? How to decide whether a certain experiment is ethically acceptable or should it be refused. The concept of the 3R will be discussed with a special focus on refinement of procedures and husbandry.
What are the legal requirements in different countries? The Section on Primates of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals for Experimental Purposes (ETS123) will be regarded.

Further reading:
- Weatherall Report
- Appendix A of the European Convention ETS 123 (2006)

---

Vocal and Visual Communication in Non-human Primates

Julia Fischer, Department of Cognitive Ethology, German Primate Centre

This lecture will provide an overview over some of the key issues that have been studied in the vocal and gestural communication in nonhuman primates, and what these findings may reveal about the evolution of speech. The main topics will be the question of ‘meaning’ in nonhuman primate communication, the ontogenetic development of sound production and comprehension, and the structure and function of gestural signals in nonhuman primates. Present findings suggest that listeners use calls as predictors of events in their surrounding, while there is less evidence that the callers intend to provide this information. This form of ‘functionally referential’ communication has now been described for a number of animal species, including birds, rodents, and carnivores. Unlike songbirds or some cetaceans, nonhuman primates appear unable to mimic novel sounds or incorporate new sounds into their repertoire. Nonhuman primates also lack a combinatorial system to generate new meanings from reordering the units of their communication, despite the fact that a number of studies have shown that listener responses to calls may vary with regard to the combination of different call types. Although nonhuman primates, in particular apes, have a large variety of gestural signals, there is no convincing evidence that such signals are used to communicate about ongoing events, either. That is, lack of motor control alone – as in the case of vocal production – does not account for the lack of linguistic abilities in monkeys and apes. In sum, there is a wide gap between the verbal production of human speech and the vocalizations of nonhuman primates. The findings highlight the importance of socio-cognitive skills that apparently also influence the communicative ability of primates. I will outline promising research questions that deal with the understanding of these constraints.

---

Olfactory Communication

Eckhard W. Heymann, Department of Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology, German Primate Centre

Primates are often considered as “microsmats”, and as a consequence the role of olfactory signals and olfactory communication in primates is commonly underestimated. This lecture will first provide an overview on the types and origins of olfactory signals emitted by primates. Olfactory signals are most often produced by specific scent glands, mainly located on the ventral surface of the body, but urine and perhaps saliva and faeces might also be involved. Then supposed or confirmed functions of olfactory communication are reviewed. For most primates for whom good data are available, multiple functions of olfactory communication in social and sexual processes have been suggested. Finally, some practical implications of olfactory communication in primates will be discussed.