Zoo Chimps' Mental Health Affected by Captivity
From the article: "A recent study also found that zoo visits boost a child's science and conservation education more than books or classroom teaching alone. Over 50 percent of all school children aged between 7 and 14 showed improvements in their knowledge of animals, habitat and conservation after just a single zoo visit."
What excuse then do zoo keepers themselves have for not understanding that captivity is not good for such intelligent creatures? - Dallas
Zoo Chimps' Mental Health Affected by Captivity
Research reveals signs of mental illness, including repetive rocking, self-mutilation and eating feces.
Many chimpanzees housed in zoos show abnormal behavior that suggest mental illness, according to a new PLoS One study.
The documented behaviors, which included self-mutilation, repetitive rocking, and consumption of feces, are symptoms of compromised mental health in humans, and are not seen in wild chimpanzees, the authors say. The study found that even chimps at very well regarded zoos displayed the disturbing behaviors.
"Absolutely abnormal behavior and possible mental health issues are most commonly associated with lab chimps," co-author Nicholas Newton-Fisher told Discovery News. "This is one of the reasons we were surprised to see the levels of abnormal behavior that we did -- in chimpanzees living in good zoos."
"We conclude that the chimpanzee mind might have difficulties dealing with captivity," added Newton-Fisher, a primate behavioral ecologist at the University of Kent's School of Anthropology & Conservation.
Read the rest on Discovery News.
Tags: animal welfare, captivity, chimpanzees, primates, zoos
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by T A A on -
One of the reasons I disregard a great many behavioural research projects using captive primates.
At our population level, we humans too are captives, of our cities, of our jobs, of our marriage contracts, of our borders, etc.
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on -
...and of our minds, or beliefs, our biases, our expectations, and our self-esteem. Alas, perhaps there is no escape from these things. Maybe this is what being human is about. Maybe this defines us.
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Permalink Reply by T A A on
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Meh... :)
I think free chimps are happier than captive chimps... and captive humans :)
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on
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Oh, I"m sure they are "happier," if happiness fits into their worldview. I'm not sure too many animals concern themselves with "happiness" in the wild. Of course, in captivity they are forced to contend with misery though.
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Permalink Reply by T A A on
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Yes, in scientific terms "happiness" is but a anthropocentric subjective qualifier and not worth mentioning really. It's all about quality of life, versus length of life. Most captive animals live longer than in the wild. Longer life is meaningless too :)
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