Behavioral and adrenocortical responses of male cynomolgus and lion-tailed macaques to social stimulation and group formation

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Several recent studies indicate that primate species may differ in behavioral, and in some instances physiological, responses to social manipulations. These differences in response dispositions have been interpreted as being based on temperamental differences among species. This report extends previous comparative studies of macaques by describing behavioral contrasts observed between males of two macaque species, lion-tailed and cynomolgus macaques, in response to social manipulations. Males were exposed to a mirror, then visually exposed to conspecific neighbors in all pairwise combinations, and then formed into conspecific social groups. Urine samples were collected in the pairing and group formation conditions for cortisol assay. The cynomolgus demonstrated more affiliative behavior than the lion-tails in all conditions, while the lion-tails tended to exhibit more aggressive behavior. Following group formation cortisol values showed a decreasing trend in the cynomolgus, but not in the lion-tails. The cynomolgus rapidly adapted to group living and relations between them were primarily affiliative. In contrast, no affiliative behavior was ever observed in the lion-tail group, which appeared to be highly stressed by group living and was eventually disbanded.

The Effect of Fission–Fusion Zoo Housing on Hormonal and Behavioral Indicators of Stress in Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

“…Another study has shown that Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) at Chester Zoo, England, were disrupted by groups of visitors (Birke 2002). In addition, other factors have been reported to affect fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations in primates such as sex (Honess and Marin 2006), age (Seraphin et al 2008;Van Cauter et al 1996), and changes in group composition (Clarke et al 1995;Heistermann et al 2004).…”

“…For example, group size and group composition resembling the natural social condition of a species can have positive effects on stress hormone levels (Clarke et al 1995;Reimers et al 2007). In this respect, improvements are especially needed in the housing systems of orangutans.…”

Behavior, appetite, and urinary cortisol responses by adult female pigtailed macaques to cage size, cage level, room change, and ketamine sedation

“…Pigtailed macaques are more prone to diarrhea than longtailed macaques, possibly reflecting greater stress levels in captivity [Hird et al, 1984]. Male longtailed macaques showed lower cortisol responses to group formation than did male lion-tailed macaques (M. silenus), although the latter were bolder [Clarke & Lindburg, 1993;Clarke et al, 1995]. Lion-tailed macaques are phylogenetically closely related to pigtailed macaques, whereas longtailed and rhesus macaques are in a separate species group, and bonnet macaques are in yet another group [Hoelzer & Melnick, 1996].…”

Environmental Enrichment for Nonhuman Primates: Theory and Application

“…However, responses differed by species. The longtailed macaques showed more submissive behavior whereas lion-tailed macaques showed more aggressive behavior in response to the mirror (Clarke et al 1995).…”

“…When a mirror was attached to the cages of individually housed longtailed and lion-tailed macaques, response levels to the mirror were highest on day 1 of a 2-wk exposure period (Clarke et al 1995). However, it has been reported that interest can be restored simply by moving the mirror to a new location (Suarez and Gallup 1986) or by removing it for a period of time and then reinstating it (Gallup and Suarez 1991).…”