The Use of Psychopharmaceuticals to Control Aggressive Behaviors in Captive Gorillas
Publication Type: |
Conference Proceedings |
Year of Publication: |
2000 |
Authors: |
Hayley Weston Murphy, Michael Mufson |
Publication/Journal: |
Proceedings of "The apes: Challenges for the 21st century" |
Keywords: |
aggression, behavior, behaviour, conference, drug, gorilla, psychopharmaceutical |
Abstract:
Unusually aggressive and violent behavior was seen in a captive twelve-year-old western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) during and after introduction to a group of two adult females and two juvenile male gorillas at the Franklin Park Zoo. In an attempt to control the aggression and minimize injuries, several psychopharmological drugs (drugs used to treat behavioral problems) were used at increasing doses. Drugs used, in order of sequence tried and increasing doses, were Haldol (haloperidol—McNeil Pharmaceutical, Spring House, PA, USA) 10-50 mg SID; Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride—Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) 20-80 mg SID; Zoloft sertraline hydrochloride—Pfizer Inc., Roerig Division, New York, NY USA) 100-400 mg SID; and Risperidol (resperidone—Janssen Pharmaceutica, Titusville, NJ USA) 4-24 mg BID. An adult female gorilla was treated for anxiety with Atenolol (Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Broomfield, CO USA) at 0.7 mg/kg SID; Xanax (Alprazolam Pharmacia and Upjohn Co., Kalamazoo, Michigan USA) 0.25 mg PO BID; and Paxil (Paroxetine hydrochloride—SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals Philadelphia, PA USA) 20 mg SID. One of the two juvenile males was treated with Prozac at 0.3-0.6 mg/kg SID. No appreciable difference was seen with any of the treatments tried. Due to the scarcity of published data on the use of psychopharmaceuticals to control aggression in captive gorillas, a survey was sent to institutions housing gorillas in the United States and Canada. The survey was to assess the current uses, dosages, and results of any psychopharmaceuticals used. The results of this survey, in addition to this specific case, will be discussed.