A comparison of behaviours of common squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) between enclosure designs at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Woburn Safari Park

Abstract

The ability of a species to adapt to their captive conditions depends on how well the enclosure resembles its natural environment (Mallapur and Choudhury, 2003). Enabling captive animals to exert some control over their environment (e.g. feeding habits) allows for high animal welfare standards which has recently been achieved through environmental ‘enrichment’ using complex and diverse enclosure designs (Carlstead, 1996). The principal method of assessing a captive animal’s welfare is by observing their behaviours and comparing it to its wild relatives (Carlstead, 1996). Building on previous work (Williams and Litten-Brown, 2008), the objective of this study was to determine whether enclosure design has an effect on the behaviours of captive common squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus).