Control, Choice, and Assessments of the Value of Behavioral Management to Nonhuman Primates in Captivity
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2007 |
Authors: |
Steven Schapiro, Susan Lambeth |
Publication/Journal: |
Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |
Keywords: |
behavioral management, behavioural management, consumer demand, environmental enrichment, preference, primates, welfare |
ISBN: |
1088-8705 |
Abstract:
Many people have devoted considerable effort to enhancing the environments of nonhuman primates in captivity. There is substantial motivation to develop experimental, analytical, and interpretational frameworks to enable objective measurements of the value of environmental enrichment/behavioral management efforts. The consumer- demand approach is a framework not frequently implemented in studies of nonhuman primate welfare but profitably used in studies of the welfare of nonhuman animals in agriculture. Preference studies, in which primates can voluntarily choose to socialize or to participate in training, may be the best current examples of a consumer-demand-like approach to assessing the effects of captive management strategies on primate welfare. Additional work in this area would be beneficial; however, there are potential ethical constraints on purposefully subjecting primates to adverse circumstances to measure their demand for a resource. Primate welfare researchers need to design consumer-demand studies with obstacles that will help measure the relative value of resources to captive primates without compromising the welfare they are attempting to evaluate and enhance.