Hot Topics in Primate Welfare

For our Fall, 2019 Hot Topics, we are featuring the research of Lynea Witczak, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis who studies titi monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center. Titi monkeys are socially monogamous primates that live in the Amazon basin. Forming pair bonds is […]

For this feature, we interviewed Dr. Francis Cabana, Wildlife Nutritionist and Assistant Director, Zoology, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, about a condition which affects callitrichid primates (e.g., marmosets, tamarins) called Marmoset Wasting Syndrome, or MWS. Dr. Cabana and colleagues recently published a study identifying potential risk factors that could be mitigated to help reduce the incidence of MWS, as well as […]

Stressful environments increase risk of chronic diarrhea, but personality influences outcome. For this quarter’s Hot Topics in Animal Welfare feature, we highlight the research of Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, Manager of Resources and Logistics at the Oregon Health Sciences University’s Oregon National Primate Research Center in Beaverton, OR. Dr. Gottlieb investigates colony management techniques to improve […]

For this Winter, 2018 feature on Hot Topics in Welfare, we explore the research of Sarah Neal Webb, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Copenhagen. Ms. Neal Webb was the recipient of the 2018 American Society of Primatologists’ Primate Welfare Award for her research examining the behavioral effects of group size and composition in […]

For this Fall, 2018 Hot Topics feature, we interview Dr. Anna Nekaris about how conservation and welfare issues intersect in her work with slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.). Dr. Nekaris is a Professor of Anthropology and Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom. She is the founder and Director of the Little Fireface Project […]

Experimentally evaluating the function of self-directed behavior in mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx). For the Spring 2018 Hot Topics in Welfare feature, we explore a novel test of self-directed behavior as an indicator of animal welfare. This research was conducted by Austin Leeds and Kristen E. Lukas of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and was recently published in Animal Welfare. Self-directed […]

Modeling effects of social stress on depression in a macaque without extreme procedures. For the Winter 2018 Hot Topics in Welfare feature, we highlight the research of Dr. Michael Hennessy, Professor of Psychology and faculty member in the Behavioral Neuroscience group at Wright State University in Dayton, OH. Dr. Hennessy has long studied effects of […]

For this quarter’s Animal Welfare feature, ASP interviews Dr. Sonya Kahlenberg, the Executive Director of the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dr. Kahlenberg shares the story of GRACE and considers the unique challenges involved in caring for orphaned Grauer’s gorillas in the midst of a conservation crisis. This video tells […]

ASP Primate Welfare Award (2016): Allostatic Load For the Spring 2017 Hot Topics in Welfare feature, we explore the research of Ashley Edes, a Ph.D. candidate at The Ohio State University. Ms. Edes was the recipient of the 2016 American Society of Primatologists’ Primate Welfare Award for her research examining allostatic load and social stress […]

Are all abnormal behaviors equally reliable indicators of negative welfare? For the Winter 2017 Hot Topics in Welfare feature, we provide an overview of a paper recently published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science: Reconsidering coprophagy as an indicator of negative welfare for captive chimpanzees by Lydia Hopper, Hani Freeman, and Stephen Ross of The Lester E. Fisher Center […]