Do Zoos 'humanise' their animals too much?
- Thread starter Pertinax
- Start date
Gigit
Well-Known Member
I don't see the harm if the apes enjoy wrapping themselves in sheets. It's easy enrichment and the only alternative I've seen recently is sacking. I get more annoyed when apes aren't given any novel enrichment.
Monkey World ask for linen on their Donations page:
"We also get through an incredible amount of blankets, sheets, towels, duvet covers & pillowcases. The primates simply love them, they play with them, hide under them and enjoy snuggling up in them at bedtime."
I'm glad Twycross stopped having all that shredded paper and stuff about which always made it look as though they'd emptied the bins all over
I can see blankets are not naturalistic but the apps really do like them.
I can see blankets are not naturalistic but the apps really do like them.
and so do the Apes probably....
I'd just rather see more naturalist things given to them- dried palm fronds, bamboo etc but I appreciate old clothing/linen/blankets etc is far easier to come by. Zoos do seem to vary a lot in their approaches to this. I could be wrong but rather doubt for example that the Apes at Jersey are provided with old clothing etc- certainly they never were in the past. Nor are they at Howletts/PL where they certainly aren't short of other enrichment.dunstbunny
Well-Known Member
I fail to see the problem with the abacus. I saw the video in the news and thought it was a wonderful idea for an enrichment item. It's colouful, it moves, and the monkey seemed genuinely happy and excited to fiddle with it.
Nobody in his right mind would think monkeys and apes are trained to do calculations!
What I am really concerned about is the periodical rerun of old advertisements featuring primates, snippets of the old chimp teaparties, etc.
This sets definitely the wrong signal for a great number of uninformed people.
Nobody in his right mind would think monkeys and apes are trained to do calculations!
What I am really concerned about is the periodical rerun of old advertisements featuring primates, snippets of the old chimp teaparties, etc.
This sets definitely the wrong signal for a great number of uninformed people.
I was thinking of small children when I wrote my comment: I think it runs directly counter to the ZSL's mission of education.
I bet the abacus was removed as soon as the shoot finished - if so, its value as enrichment was very limited.
Alan
mmm. I'm not so sure. We are given to believe that Apes are capable of mastering complicated sign language, using vocabularies and sentences too. If you believe that( I rather have my doubts about it all) then this is just one stage further perhaps.
I think the abacus was just placed with the Monkey for the shot, nothing more and that they don't give them these to play with normally.
Sacks I don't mind. Somehow I draw a line between them and 'clothes' and blankets/linen- can't explain why.
Gigit
Well-Known Member
I don't think an abacus would pass a health and safety assessment for unsupervised play by primates - too easy to break and a risk of ingestion of the wooden beads.
The other day I watched an orang trying to insert herself into two sacks. She had one over her head and shoulders, Mother Teresa style, and was trying to get her legs into the other. Crossing the line between clothes and sacks? She didn't have anything else different from the norm to play with.
I don't think they have old linen etc at Jersey, but they are an exceptional zoo. I can understand Monkey World asking for donations as they have so many apes to amuse, and most are there because they've been humanised to some extent.
I'm glad to hear that Twycross's rubbish bin enrichment has been stopped. Very undignified. For that reason I don't like to see orangs and gorillas eating cardboard boxes either.
The other day I watched an orang trying to insert herself into two sacks. She had one over her head and shoulders, Mother Teresa style, and was trying to get her legs into the other. Crossing the line between clothes and sacks?
She didn't have anything else different from the norm to play with.I don't think they have old linen etc at Jersey, but they are an exceptional zoo. I can understand Monkey World asking for donations as they have so many apes to amuse, and most are there because they've been humanised to some extent.
I'm glad to hear that Twycross's rubbish bin enrichment has been stopped. Very undignified. For that reason I don't like to see orangs and gorillas eating cardboard boxes either.
I think it must also help to keep the cost of tons of woodwool down. One chimp can amass an amazing amount of woodwool for a bed, and will often be happy to use a sheet/blanket or 5,6 or 7 instead/as well. They're also easier to take up onto high platforms as they don't disintegrate like a huge ball of woodwool.
It's one of my favourite times at Monkey World - watching them make nests at bed time. They are so fussy, they all have their little habits and preferences. Many of them were wild caught and clearly learned something about nest building before they were poached.
I suspect any apes could get a liking for using them, even wild ones if they were handy in the rainforest but it doesn't fit with a zoos 'naturalistic' pretensions.
I don't think the animals saw it as enrichment so much latterly as it was a permanent part of their environment. I've seen their Apes sitting amongst all that rubbish and just ignoring it. As you say its undignified but that's my opinion of the clothes and linen too. At one time Bristol supplied their Apes- in their previous house- with a lot of 'junk' too- clothing and plastic drums mainly. It looked awful in their cramped enclosures. Bristol do not do this anymore either but then they don't need to as their Apes nowadays have a large island to wander over, vegetation to pull at and eat, water to investigate etc which the previous ones did not. Obviously most Zoos can't display animals under totally natural conditions but I think this sort of thing makes things look worse.
At e.g. Paignton I would supply the Apes with big swathes of cut bamboo occassionally,(they've got plenty) and give them that to cover themselves with or make beds out of.