Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/20476
Appears in Collections:Psychology Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: Interspecific interactions and welfare implications in mixed species communities of capuchin (sapajus apella) and squirrel monkeys (saimiri sciureus) over 3 years
Author(s): Buchanan-Smith, Hannah M
Griciute, Joana
Daoudi, Sophia
Leonardi, Rebecca
Whiten, Andrew
Contact Email: h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Mixed species group
Interspecific interactions
Enclosure design
Capuchin
Squirrel monkey
Cebus
Issue Date: Aug-2013
Date Deposited: 12-Jun-2014
Citation: Buchanan-Smith HM, Griciute J, Daoudi S, Leonardi R & Whiten A (2013) Interspecific interactions and welfare implications in mixed species communities of capuchin (sapajus apella) and squirrel monkeys (saimiri sciureus) over 3 years. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 147 (3-4), pp. 324-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2013.04.004
Abstract: Species have complex relationships with others in the wild, and some such as capuchin (Sapajus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) naturally choose to associate with each other. There are a number of benefits of exhibiting such species in correspondingly mixed communities in captivity to enhance welfare through increased social complexity, which is potentially environmentally enriching in restricted captive enclosures. Monitoring the interactions between species is critical, however, particularly when members of one species are considerably larger and potentially more aggressive than the other. We report on the frequency and nature of interspecific interactions between S. apella and S. sciureus during four time periods over 3 years (2008-2010) following the formation of two mixed species groups at the ‘Living Links to Human Evolution' Research Centre in Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland. Both the rate and the distribution of interspecific interactions among aggressive, affiliative and neutral categories of behaviour varied over time (P < 0.05). We predicted that S. apella would engage in more interspecific, particularly aggressive, interactions than S. sciureus than vice versa, as they are the larger, more social species and have a more pugnacious temperament. This was the case overall (P < 0.05), and particularly in 2009 and 2010. We predicted that affiliative interactions would increase over time as the number of youngsters increased and as the youngsters grew up together, establishing equable relationships and "territorial" boundaries. The data did not support this prediction. Both the most affiliative and least aggressive interspecific interactions were observed following internal enclosure refurbishment in 2008 and hence we argue that good enclosure design and husbandry is the most important factor in promoting positive interactions between individuals in mixed species groups. We conclude that long-term monitoring is important, and when combined with appropriate husbandry and enclosure upkeep, the welfare of individuals is enhanced in mixed species groups by the presence of other species.
DOI Link: 10.1016/j.applanim.2013.04.004
Rights: Published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science by Elsevier; Elsevier believes that individual authors should be able to distribute their accepted author manuscripts for their personal voluntary needs and interests, e.g. posting to their websites or their institution’s repository, e-mailing to colleagues. The Elsevier Policy is as follows: Authors retain the right to use the accepted author manuscript for personal use, internal institutional use and for permitted scholarly posting provided that these are not for purposes of commercial use or systematic distribution. An "accepted author manuscript" is the author’s version of the manuscript of an article that has been accepted for publication and which may include any author-incorporated changes suggested through the processes of submission processing, peer review, and editor-author communications.

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