Social enrichment refers broadly to the social lives of chimpanzees as social interactions with other chimpanzees. Optimizing the management of social behavior is essential to maintaining a breeding population of chimpanzees that retain their behavioral competence over generations. This study aims to underline whether and how newborns could be considered a social environmental enrichment for a colony of captive chimpanzees hosed at Parco Natura Viva, by comparing interactions between the different members of the colony and two young females: a 2-month-old infant, fully dependent on the care of her mother, and a 4-year-old infant, completely weaned. Results highlight that the 2-month-old infant receives attentions significantly more from the mother and the grandmother than from the remaining subjects. On the contrary, the 4-year-old infant receives more interactions from the rest of the group rather than from her mother. Moreover, the grandmother of the 2-month-old infant acts as an allomother. In conclusion, an infant may represent a social enrichment for a group of chimpanzees, since it stimulates social relationships among individuals, especially when the strong mother-infant bond becomes less exclusive.
Infants in a colony of captive Chimpanzees: Social enrichment? / Sala, Luigi. - In: FOLIA PRIMATOLOGICA. - ISSN 0015-5713. - (2011).
Infants in a colony of captive Chimpanzees: Social enrichment?
SALA, Luigi
2011
Abstract
Social enrichment refers broadly to the social lives of chimpanzees as social interactions with other chimpanzees. Optimizing the management of social behavior is essential to maintaining a breeding population of chimpanzees that retain their behavioral competence over generations. This study aims to underline whether and how newborns could be considered a social environmental enrichment for a colony of captive chimpanzees hosed at Parco Natura Viva, by comparing interactions between the different members of the colony and two young females: a 2-month-old infant, fully dependent on the care of her mother, and a 4-year-old infant, completely weaned. Results highlight that the 2-month-old infant receives attentions significantly more from the mother and the grandmother than from the remaining subjects. On the contrary, the 4-year-old infant receives more interactions from the rest of the group rather than from her mother. Moreover, the grandmother of the 2-month-old infant acts as an allomother. In conclusion, an infant may represent a social enrichment for a group of chimpanzees, since it stimulates social relationships among individuals, especially when the strong mother-infant bond becomes less exclusive.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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