A Quick and Effective Method for Establishing Self-Feeding in Stump-Tailed Macaques (Macaca arctoides)

Abstract

In 1970 the Psychology Department of the University of Stirling, Scotland, inspired by the work of Harry F. Harlow and colleagues, established a colony of stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides), a species that was believed to resemble rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in social structure and behavior but was reported to be more tractable (Schrier, 1967). The objective was to breed infant stump-tailed macaques for long-term research on their behavioral development. The colony was founded with 31 adult macaques imported from Thailand. The animals were housed in harem groups of 10–15 females with one male in a 30-m2 room with access to outdoor pens. The original plan was that infants would be raised by their mothers in these social groups. However, the colony soon proved to be affected by Shigella and Salmonella, which are a major problem in macaques, though reportedly less so in the stumptailed species (Chamove et al., 1979). Because these and other pathogens (e.g., B virus; Zwartouw et al., 1984) are particularly virulent in young monkeys, it was decided to protect vulnerable infants by separating them from their mothers and raising them in a nursery environment.