Nasty primates

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned gibbons. Don't they have a reputation for being vicious?
 
At Tierpark Gettorf - Germany - we had a family-group of 3 White-handed gibbons ( father, mother, child ) and it was impossible to enter the enclosure when the Gibbons were around. Through the wire mother and semi-adult young were always quite friendly but the male always acted very aggresive !
 
vogelcommando said:
At Tierpark Gettorf - Germany - we had a family-group of 3 White-handed gibbons ( father, mother, child ) and it was impossible to enter the enclosure when the Gibbons were around. Through the wire mother and semi-adult young were always quite friendly but the male always acted very aggresive !
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I thought that gibbons were often friendly?
 
Bush babies would be a really alerted species! They run from anything and have very self-cautious
actions. Particularly form there very sensitive ears!
 
EsserWarrior said:
I thought that gibbons were often friendly?
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As with all animals its much more dependent on the individual and its temperament and life experience. You get some which are more mild mannered , some that are "friendly" (usually those hand reared), others which display aggressive behaviour (hierachical species and rescued / rehabilitated animals) while the majority will typically be more neutral and avoidant in interaction with people.

In this way it resembles the differences in character traits in individual human beings and it is therefore way too reductive to generalize about the behaviour of a whole species and particularly primates which are so behaviourally complex. Moreover , as many biological anthropologists have concluded from field studies of wild non-human primates these have (for want of a better word) what has been termed "cultures" and these can vary from social group to group in the wild or captivity.

Generally you can say that some species (like gibbons or muriquis , though gibbons are much more territorial) appear to have traits arising from their behavioural ecologies in the wild that may predispose them towards a certain behavioural pattern in captivity that in most cases may correspond with certain positive adjectives in our language. However, there are often unpredictable wild card individuals in species that are generally considered as "peaceful" or "gentle" which prove to be exceptions to this "rule" and may be for example extremely violent.

Moreover, if this individual occupies a high position in the social hierachy of a group this kind of behaviour may become part of the groups "culture". Read some of the classic field studies of primates and observe some of these animals in either wild or captive conditions and the nuance will become quite obvious and really very interesting.
 
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What about colobus monkeys? I haven't seen anyone mention them yet. They're one of the most interesting primates in my opinion.
 
Black Footed Beast said:
Three of the zoos I'm an hour away from (Milwaukee, Brookfield, Lincoln Park) all have types of Colobus Monkeys, but I don't see them being too aggressive
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Your local zoos are similar to mine. When Henry Vilas exhibited them I never noticed any aggressive behavior, but the two they have are elderly individuals. (Apparently, the zoo now keeps them off-exhibit due to their age.) I've read that females can get a little feisty around each other, so the AZA and SSP asks that there are multiple different feeding areas and stuff for females. It seems to be that some populations have stricter females than others.
 
There are walk-through colobus exhibits in Munster and Magdeburg.

But in general, males of most species of Old World monkeys are easy to start jumping and biting immediately at any provocation or even approach. Interesting, intelligent animals but cannot make friends with.
 
Eulemurs can be pretty nasty, at least to each other. I think it depends on the species, but I think several of them can be intolerant of other individuals that aren't part of the breeding pair or their offspring.
Has anyone ever worked with a bad-tempered orangutan? I've only ever heard good things about them.
 
EsserWarrior said:
Eulemurs can be pretty nasty, at least to each other. I think it depends on the species, but I think several of them can be intolerant of other individuals that aren't part of the breeding pair or their offspring.
Has anyone ever worked with a bad-tempered orangutan? I've only ever heard good things about them.
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Orangs I've met have been lovely, although one is a potential sex pest. However, I believe a certain 'film star' turned nasty after years of abuse.
 
EsserWarrior said:
Eulemurs can be pretty nasty, at least to each other. I think it depends on the species, but I think several of them can be intolerant of other individuals that aren't part of the breeding pair or their offspring.
Has anyone ever worked with a bad-tempered orangutan? I've only ever heard good things about them.
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In another part of Latin America I knew a volunteer keeper who had her arm dislocated and a finger bitten off by a male orangutan which was otherwise a very good natured individual. I didn't know the volunteer well, however, I was familiar with the orangutan, though I never personally worked with it. Until that particular incident happened this animal had never attacked anyone, it had in fact been hand raised and was quite popular due to its gentleness and friendliness with keepers and visitors.

She had broken the rules by putting her arm through the bar and stroking it's face suddenly. As it had recently undergone veterinary treatment (which all animals hate) it was clearly nervous / jumpy and responded by attacking. Frankly considering the strength that these animals possess she kind of got off lightly with it and was lucky not to have had her arm or hand torn off entirely.

This was then further complicated by the response of the police posted around the zoo who didn't help the situation at all. Understandably, not many people felt sympathy for her , she had broken the rules and done something ridiculous that threatened to bring the institution into disrepute.

If you get into zoo keeping or volunteering then my advice is to not go on the whole "I've only heard good things about ..." thing that I've seen you mention in terms of generalizing the temperaments of several species.

Instead gain experience (thats the only way you will be able to make an actual realistic assumption) and try to see things in a more balanced / nuanced way because complacency and an idealised view of wild animals can and likely will get you seriously hurt.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
In another part of Latin America I knew a volunteer keeper who had her arm dislocated and a finger bitten off by a male orangutan which was otherwise a very good natured individual. I didn't know the volunteer well, however, I was familiar with the orangutan, though I never personally worked with it.

She had broken the rules by putting her arm through the bar and stroking it's face suddenly. As it had recently undergone veterinary treatment (which all animals hate) it was clearly nervous / jumpy and responded by attacking. Frankly considering the strength that these animals possess she kind of got off lightly with it and was lucky not to have had her arm or hand torn off entirely.

This was then further complicated by the response of the police posted around the zoo who didn't help the situation at all. Understandably, not many people felt sympathy for her , she had broken the rules and done something ridiculous that threatened to bring the institution into disrepute.

If you get into zoo keeping or volunteering then my advice is to not go on the whole "I've only heard good things" thing that I've seen you mention in terms of generalizing the temperaments several species. Instead gain experience and try to see things in a more balanced / nuanced way because complacency and an idealised view of wild animals can and likely will get you seriously hurt.
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Let's face it, lots of people would retaliate if you stroked their face without asking nicely first.
 
I've heard of plenty of untrustworthy Orangutans. A keeper in Copenhagen was killed by a male Sumatran many years ago I believe. They may be exceptions to the generally good-tempered ones but some will snatch or bite unfamiliar people or even people they are familiar with. I believe the female Victoria/Vicky (now dead) at Blackpool was very untrustworthy in that respect.
 
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