Abstract
Behavior is the interface through which animals interact with their environments, and therefore has potentially cascading impacts on the health of individuals, populations, their habitats, and the humans that share them. Evolution has shaped the interaction between species and their environments. Thus, alterations to the species-typical "wild-type" behavioral repertoire (and the ability of the individual to adapt flexibly which elements of the repertoire it employs) may disrupt the relationship between the organism and its environment, creating cascading One Health effects. A good example is rehabilitant orangutans where, for example, seemingly minor differences from wild conspecifics in the time spent traveling on the ground rather than in the forest canopy can affect an individual's musculoskeletal and nutritional health, as well as social integration. It can also increase two-way transmission of infectious diseases and/or pathogens with local human populations, or potentially with neighboring wild populations if there are no geographical barriers and rehabilitants travel far enough to leave their release area. Primates are well known ecosystem engineers, reshaping plant communities and maintaining biodiversity through seed dispersal, consuming plants, and creating canopy gaps and trails. From the habitat perspective, a rehabilitant orangutan which does not behave like a wild orangutan is unlikely to fulfill these same ecosystem services. Despite the importance of the diversity of an ape's behavioral repertoire, how it compares to that of wild conspecifics and how it alters in response to habitat variation, behavior is an often under-appreciated aspect of One Health. In this review, focusing on orangutans as an example of the kinds of problems faced by all captive great apes, we examine the ways in which understanding and facilitating the expression of wild-type behavior can improve their health, their ability to thrive, and the robustness of local One Health systems.
Highlights
All organisms are deeply interconnected with the environments in which they live; in which their bodies, brains, behavioral ecology, and life histories have evolved and within which they must obtain all the resources they need to thrive
In this review, focusing on orangutans as an example of the kinds of problems faced by all captive great apes, we examine the ways in which understanding and facilitating the expression of wild‐ type behavior can improve their health, their ability to thrive, and the robustness of local One Health systems
Over the last 5 years, we have worked with the great ape rescue and rehabilitation community to modify enclosures to encourage expression of wild‐type behavioral profiles by implementing measures to overcome the captive constraints on their acquisition and expression
Summary
All organisms are deeply interconnected with the environments in which they live; in which their bodies, brains, behavioral ecology, and life histories have evolved and within which they must obtain all the resources they need to thrive. If all individuals in the group have been raised in a captive environment, the developmental and cultural processes that enable orangutans to adapt to their local habitat will not be available (Krützen et al, 2011), and social learning could generate maladaptive behavior (Franz & Matthews, 2010).
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