I enjoyed watching him, with the rest of the group, outside yesterday. I did notice that his forearms are plucked - he seemed to be doing it himself, but the others may do it when they groom him too. Do you think he may be stressed?
I have also noticed his forearms are always plucked. He's not the most impressive male i've seen but he's a breeder and that's the main thing. I believe he came from an animal dealer(Ravensdon?) rather than another zoo so I've never been sure where he originated from.
I enjoyed watching him, with the rest of the group, outside yesterday. I did notice that his forearms are plucked - he seemed to be doing it himself, but the others may do it when they groom him too. Do you think he may be stressed?
Hair-plucking categorized as SIB, which mostly developed by social isolation, or can be stress related. But I know nothing about the speciems at Chester.
During my visit I did not notice any (other?) sign of stress by their animals, but this male is not the only member of the group which forearms are plucked.
Its possible the male originally developed this behaviour e.g. at a dealer's premises, before coming to Chester. This habit may then have spread to other members of the group by imitation/association.. I've seen that happen in a Gorilla group before.
