Mollie A Bloomsmith

Emory University | EU · Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center

Salivary cortisol assay is an effective method to quantify free cortisol levels, track diurnal patterns and measure acute hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activation in response to acute stressors. This study examined salivary cortisol and behaviour in three African elephants Loxodonta africana. Salivary cortisol was within normal ranges for this spe...

Background: Compatible pair housing of macaques in research settings increases species-typical behaviors and facilitates beneficial social buffering. It is not yet established whether these benefits are maintained after intrafacility transfer and domestic quarantine, which are two stressors that can lead to behavioral and clinical abnormalities....

The development of positive reinforcement animal training methods has been an important refinement in the care of primates living in research settings. Using operant conditioning techniques, research primates have been taught to cooperate with veterinary, husbandry, and research procedures. Successfully trained behaviors include moving to locations...

Citation: Clay, A.W.; Ross, S.R.; Lambeth, S.; Vazquez, M.; Breaux, S.; Pietsch, R.; Fultz, A.; Lammey, M.; Jacobson, S.L.; Perlman, J.E.; et al. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in U.S. Zoos, Sanctuaries, and Research Simple Summary: A survey was sent to zoos, research facilities, and sanctuaries which housed chimpanzees. The behavioral profiles of 1...

The social setting of animal subjects in the research environment has known effects on a variety of dependent measures used in biomedical research. Proper evaluation of the robustness of published research is dependent upon transparent, detailed, and accurate reporting of research methods, including the animals' social housing conditions. However,...

Across a period of 54 months, several changes were made to the feeding protocols of 32 adult chimpanzees living at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center Field Station. Before implementing any changes in diet, baseline data were collected for 6 months. During Baseline (BS), the chimpanzees received unlimited amounts of primate biscuits twice a...

Maintaining stable breeding groups of rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) can be challenging due to the complex social dynamics and despotic nature of the species. Trauma from aggression is a common problem in rhesus colonies and can cause social disruption, strain veterinary and animal management resources, and potentially affect reproduction. Prev...

Social housing improves the well-being of monkeys in research settings; however, little is known about factors influencing the long‐term stability of established, full-contact pairs. Archival data were examined to determine whether sex, age, weight, duration pair housed, familiarity, social interruptions, room changes, or sedation events predicted...

In captive populations of rhesus macaques, novel adult males are commonly introduced to female groups every few years to prevent inbreeding, which mimics male dispersal in wild macaque populations. However, introducing adult males is challenging because macaques are aggressive to newcomers, which can result in serious injuries. Efforts to reduce tr...

Animal social structure is influenced by multiple socioecological factors. Of these, the links between changes to group demography through the arrival of new individuals and residents’ social structure remain unclear. Across seven groups of captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ), we examine how male introductions may be influenced by, and in-tu...

Functional analysis (FA) is a method developed and used by behavior analysts in human clinical settings to identify possible environmental variables that reinforce undesired behavior. FA is increasingly being applied to better understand the behavior of nonhuman animals. When training monkeys in a room with others, disruptive behavior displayed by...

Migration patterns of wild rhesus macaque males are often mimicked in captivity by introducing unfamiliar males to female groups every few years. This strategy prevents inbreeding and has been shown to encourage group stability once males are fully integrated. The current study focused on female coalitionary aggressive behavior directed toward male...

Background Although medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is used commonly as a contraceptive in women and female non‐human primates, its effects on social behavior remain unclear. This study examined whether MPA treatment and introduction of new adult males during the breeding season influence the social behaviors of group‐housed adult female rhesus m...

Integrating animals into a new group is a challenge for both free-ranging and captive adult male rhesus monkeys (Macacamulatta), and for females in groups receiving new males. To ensure the genetic viability of the population, however, maletransfers must occur in both natural and captive settings. To facilitate the introduction of groups of adult m...

Pair-housing of research monkeys improves their psychological wellbeing while also allowing researchers access. Earlier studies have found individual characteristics including sex, age, and weight influence the success of social introductions; however, little is known about the factors influencing the long-term stability of established pairs. To in...

Providing additional cage space to monkeys housed in research settings may positively affect their behavior, but there are few relevant empirical studies. Here, we made two comparisons using archival data. The first assessed the effect that a second cage had on abnormal behavior of 72 single-housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), 3-22 years old....

Chimpanzees demand specialized housing and care and the highest degree of attention to animal welfare. The current project used a survey method to collate information on chimpanzee housing and behavioral indices of welfare across all 6 of the chimpanzee research facilities in the United States. Data were compiled on 701 chimpanzees ranging from 2 t...

The use of systematic preference assessments can enhance positive reinforcement training with captive animals. We found that the multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) technique identified food preferences in laboratory housed rhesus macaques, with raisins and grapes being ranked higher on average than dried apricot, pasta, and green beans (F...

Literature-based recommendations regarding how to separate pairs of laboratory-housed NHP when required for research,veterinary, or management needs are unavailable. This study assessed 2 separation techniques—rapid and stepwise—to determine whether a period of limited social access mitigates the behavioral stress response after complete separation...

Specifically designed restraint chairs are the preferred method of restraint for research studies that require NHP to sit in place for sustained periods of time. In light of increasing emphasis on refinement of restraint to improve animal wellbeing, it is important to have a better understanding of this potentially stressful procedure. Although cha...

Behavioral assessment is an essential element of chimpanzee care. Behavioral data were compiled from four chimpanzee laboratory facilities (N=522; 286 females, 236 males) using differing methods of assessment including quantitative data collection, animal records and observations by behavioral management staff. The subjects were 46.4% mother-reared...

Identification of behaviors early in the process of rhesus macaque social introductions that might predict social housing success would allow primate managers to best allocate resources and minimize animal stress by aborting introductions unlikely to lead to successful pairings. We compared behavior during the initial visual contact phase of social...

Two nursery rearing strategies for infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were compared to measure effects on abnormal and fear-related behavior. Changes made from the standard nursery-rearing procedures (SN) included earlier exposure to peers, frequent peer-group play sessions, the use of semi-mobile artificial surrogates, and rotational pairing...

With the goal of finding a practical way to improve and/or maintain the body condition of overweight chimpanzees to promote health and welfare, several feeding protocols’ effects on chimpanzee body condition scores (BCS) were evaluated. BCS were assessed at the start and finish of each study phase, and individuals were categorized as Average (BCS 4...

Scientific evaluation of management strategies for captive species is part of the establishment of best practices for animal welfare. Here we report the effects of sex, rearing, and a sex-by-rearing interaction on adult, captive chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) behavior, health, well-being, personality, and orientation towards humans based on multipl...

Captive management of primates comprises a variety of responsibilities relating to the holding, care, and oversight of nonhuman primates kept in enclosed areas. Most basically, captive managers must be knowledgeable in these six areas: feeding and nutrition; housing, husbandry, and care practices; veterinary care; behavior; reproduction, breeding,...

The American Society of Primatologists (ASP), the Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV), and the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) have come together to develop this position statement in which the term "functionally appropriate nonhuman primate environments" is proposed as a better descriptor and as an alternative to the...

Evaluating the behavioral effects of enrichment on animals housed in biomedical facilities is necessary to effectively support their care and wellbeing. We tested the cumulative effects of an enhanced enrichment program on sooty mangabey behavior: locomotion, feeding and foraging, manipulating items in the enclosure, social affliation, aggression,...

Behavioral assessment is an essential element of captive chimpanzee care. A survey was designed to collect a variety of behavioral measures on captive chimpanzees including questions about early rearing, current social group, features of enclosures, and the presence of species-typical and abnormal behaviors. The survey can be completed based on qua...

Of the chimpanzees remaining at Yerkes, 24 infant chimpanzees, whose mothers did not adequately care for them from 1987-1995, were placed in either the Responsive Care (RC) or Standard Care nursery (ST). These nurseries differed in that RC received 4 additional hours each weekday with human researchers, who were trained to emulate some aspects of c...

Collecting behavioral data is an essential element of monitoring the welfare of captive chimpanzees no matter where they live, and any comparisons between the varying sites in which chimpanzees live should be based on objectively-collected data. Information collected as a part of standard monitoring programs in chimpanzee facilities was collated th...

Abnormal behaviors in captive animals are generally defined as behaviors that are atypical for the species and are often considered to be indicators of poor welfare. Although some abnormal behaviors have been empirically linked to conditions related to elevated stress and compromised welfare in primates, others have little or no evidence on which t...

Raw survey data.

Pair housing of macaques has become a widely implemented compromise between meeting the social needs of the monkeys and allowing for their use in biomedical research. While beneficial to the animals, pair housing can provide challenges for those caring for them. Drawing from both scientific literature and direct experience, this paper provides a re...

Protected contact is an alternative to traditional captive elephant training techniques that emerged as a result of concerns for animal welfare and personnel safety. The present study documented the behavior of elephants and their animal care professionals to determine rates of reinforcement and measures of compliance under two handling systems. Be...

A 3.5-y-old, female rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) inoculated with SIVmac239 presented 8 mo later for inappetence and facial bruising. Physical examination revealed a superficial skin abrasion below the left eye, bruising below the left brow, and epistaxis of the left nostril. There were no significant findings on CBC, serum chemistry, urinalysis,...

The separate influences of spatial density and housing quality on the behavior of captive animals are difficult to measure because the two factors are often intrinsically linked. Here, we recorded affiliative and agonistic behavior in adult sooty mangabeys in various housing situations, testing spatial density and housing quality changes separately...

Strategies to mitigate the development of abnormal behavior in nursery-reared monkeys include refinement of existing rearing procedures. We examined the development of abnormal behavior in three different nurseries at Yerkes. In comparison to the standard nursery (SN, n=48) subjects, alternate nursery 1 (AN1, n=9) subjects were reared with more hum...

A 3.5-y-old, female rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) inoculated with SIVmac239 presented 8 mo later for inappetence and facial bruising. Physical examination revealed a superficial skin abrasion below the left eye, bruising below the left brow, and epistaxis of the left nostril. There were no significant findings on CBC, serum chemistry, urinalysis,...

This research traces the long-term effects on health, well-being, personality, and behavior of adult chimpanzees as a function of their attachment to a primary human caregiver assessed when they were 1 year of age. Of the 46 chimpanzees assessed at 1 year of age, we assessed health in 43 individuals, adult behavior in 20 individuals, and adult well...

Positive reinforcement training can be used in many ways to enhance the welfare of captive primates. Training for biologic sample collection is one application of positive reinforcement training. In this study, 35 adult female chimpanzees were trained to cooperate with the collection of urine samples needed to facilitate a research study. A median...

Assessment of social interactions is the foundation of compatibility evaluation for newly paired laboratory monkeys. Identification of behaviors key to decision‐making in introductions is essential for maximizing personnel efficiency and for pair management. Data from 24 successful introductions of isosexual rhesus macaque pairs (6 male, 16 female; 2...

The influence of several factors on abnormal behaviour was investigated in 46 singly housed sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) (eight nursery-reared, 38 mother-reared), including self-injurious, self-directed, stereotypic locomotion, and faeces/urine-related behaviours (SIB, SDB, SL, FUR, respectively). An analysis of behavioural assessments spannin...

In a biomedical research environment, research or management procedures may render continuous full contact pairing of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) unfeasible. This study aimed to determine whether separation on a frequent basis or housing in adjacent cages with tactile contact interferes with the behavioral benefits of continuous full contact....

The pole-and-collar method is one of several techniques that enable the safe transfer of a nonhuman primate from its home environment into a restraint chair without the need for sedation. It has been used within the scientific community for decades. Traditional methods to train animals for pole-and-collar use rely primarily on aspects of negative r...

This study addresses a recommendation in The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals to provide singly housed nonhuman primates with intermittent access to large, enriched (play) caging. Research on the potential benefits of this type of caging is limited. The present study examines the effects of play caging on behavior, activity, and enr...

It has been suggested that providing multiple computers with automatic reward dispensers as enrichment to captive orangutans (Pongo spp) (as opposed to a single computer, with a care-staff person delivering reinforcers) might help improve behavioural outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to test this hypothesis by providing two computers w...

At Yerkes, two primate infant nurseries with different rearing procedures operated concurrently from 2007-2010. Rhesus monkey infants arrived in the nurseries prior to 30 days of age and were cared for by humans. The alternate nursery (AN) subjects were reared with more human handling and earlier conspecific social contact than the standard nursery...

Given the drawbacks of hand-rearing nonhuman animals in captivity, the practice is generally avoided, but it is sometimes necessary. A few scientific publications are available to guide managers toward best practices in hand-rearing, but the majority of articles focus on hand-rearing captive primates. Less is known about hand-rearing carnivores, bu...

Animal care in biomedical facilities housing nonhuman primates has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past two decades, with increasing emphasis on behavioral management, psychological well-being, and animal welfare. Today, providing for the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates is an integral part of animal care. Behavioral managem...

Using behavioral data to predict pair stability would be helpful for improving management of pairs and prevention of injury. Differences in reactions to presumed laboratory stressors, such as location moves, may provide information about pair stability. Six, five-minute focal observations of eight young adult, male rhesus macaque pair members were...

In the last decade several surveys of primate care and training programs highlight a common theme; despite scientific evidence that animal training can be effective in reducing stress, increasing efficiency and improving veterinary care, animal training is not widely incorporated into animal care and management programs in laboratory settings. This...

Introducing singly housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) into isosexual pairs is widely considered to improve welfare. The population of laboratory rhesus macaques is heterogeneous on a variety of factors and there is little literature available to directly evaluate the influence of many of these factors on the benefits of pair housing. Subjects...

Zoological institutions strive to ensure the welfare of nonhuman animals in captivity. Part of this effort involves reducing the level of distress experienced by an animal to the greatest extent possible. However, some necessary zoo management practices such as transportation induce stress responses. An extensive literature exists concerning the an...

Menopause in women occurs at mid-life. Chimpanzees, in contrast, continue to display cycles of menstrual bleeding and genital swelling, suggestive of ovulation, until near their maximum life span of about 60 years. Because ovulation was not confirmed hormonally, however, the age at which chimpanzees experience menopause has remained uncertain. In t...

A comprehensive behavioral assessment program has been established at our institution to monitor behavior and evaluate the treatment of behavioral problems in laboratory-housed nonhuman primates. Behavioral data are collected using a comprehensive ethogram, and data for individual animals are summarized and graphed using an automated system. While...

Technology can be used in a zoological setting to improve visitor experience, increase research opportunities, and enhance animal welfare. Evaluating the quality of these technological innovations and their use by nonhuman and human counterparts is a critical part of extending the uses of technology to enhance animal welfare and visitor experience...

(Symposium) Conventional animal management regimes involve frequent interactions between humans and animals, which differ in the degree of human contact and control. Human-animal interactions have profound effects on the behavioral and physiological process of animals, the repeated occurrence of which may determine if the human-animal relationship...

A functional analysis identified the reinforcer maintaining feces throwing and spitting exhibited by a captive adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). The implementation of a function-based treatment combining extinction with differential reinforcement of an alternate behavior decreased levels of inappropriate behavior. These findings further demonstra...

The purpose of this survey was to assess the background, training, and perceptions of professionals conducting and coordinating research at North American zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and to identify the factors they considered critical to successful scientific programs. We analyzed responses to a 57-...

The benefits to nonhuman primates living in social groupings are well established. However, when certain research that requires housing subjects singly is performed, there are no guidelines as to how paired nonhuman primates should best be separated from one another. Two social separation techniques were assessed to determine whether one was more b...

Positive reinforcement training is one component of behavioural management employed to improve psychological well-being. There has been regulatory promotion to compensate for restricted social housing in part by providing human interaction to singly caged primates, implying an efficacy standard for evaluating human interaction. The effect of positi...

Self-injurious behavior can severely affect the quality of life of rhesus macaques in the research setting. This study examined the effectiveness of an anxiolytic drug, buspirone, in rhesus macaques with a history of self-injurious behavior. A cross-over experimental design was used in which buspirone (5 mg) or a control substance was administered...

Positive reinforcement training relies on identifying an effective reinforcing consequence, often food, to be presented contingent on the performance of the desired behavior. Prior to training sessions, we used a multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference test to identify the food preference of 24 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). The...

Modern zoos are committed to environmental education and thus have a mandate to inform the public about biodiversity and conservation. Historically, zoos have avoided complex topics like biodiversity loss from overpopulation and overconsumption in their educational materials, for fear of being offensive or creating a sense of hopelessness. To measu...

Adolescence, the period lasting from the onset of puberty to the emergence of physical and sexual maturity, is a period of social change for many species including chimpanzees. Several reports have implicitly linked the physiological changes that occur during male chimpanzee adolescence to significant disruption in the social group, which in turn m...

Using preference-assessment tests with humans in conjunction with behavioral modification sessions has been a regular component of almost all operant conditioning programs with mentally challenged humans. This has been very effective in improving the efficiency of behavioral training in these settings and could be similarly effective in zoological...