The reduction of abnormal behaviors in individually housed rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) with a foraging/grooming board
✍ Scribed by Dr. K. Bayne; H. Mainzer; S. Dexter; G. Campbell; F. Yamada; S. Suomi
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 847 KB
- Volume
- 23
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0275-2565
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A new environmental enrichment device, termed a "foraginglgrooming board," was presented to 8 individually housed rhesus monkeys for the explicit purpose of reducing the level of aberrant behaviors manifested by these animals. The device, consisting of a piece of plexiglass covered with artificial fleece, had particles of food treats rubbed into it and was attached to the outside of each animal's home cage. All animals foraged from the board to the point that a significant reduction in the level of abnormal behavior was noted. Most animals also groomed the fleece covering the board, utilizing the same motor patterns that would be directed toward grooming another monkey. These boards are inexpensive to construct and easy to sanitize, and do not require placing animal facility personnel at risk to maintain them.