National Zoo Update                                                                                                     Chile  

March 22-28, 2014 

Gombe & Judy Enrichment Video

Goals

The purpose of the visit was to observe and resolve Gombe’s(chimpanzee) self-mutilation problems and to give recommendations regarding basic husbandry routine and enrichment for all species.

Chimpanzees

Gombe (male, 13 years old)                                                     Yudy (female, 35 years old)

(Pan troglodytes troglodytes)                                                 (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii)

The chimpanzees only had one altercation during my visit. This occurred while I was outside checking their exhibit. It was a short altercation, and by the time I got inside to see what was going on, the episode was already over. Staff were not aware of any episodes for the one month prior to my arrival (possibly due to exhibit modifications and increased enrichment) and there was no further aggression during my entire stay.

Conclusions of 5 days of observations:

·       Aggression only occurred once when the animals were locked inside for an extended period of time.

·       Presence of strangers visiting the chimpanzee exhibit can cause anxiety due to unknown “danger.” Due to a lack of windows in the indoor holding area, the chimpanzees have no way of seeing what’s going on outside in their exhibit.

·       Both animals appear gentle, caring and attentive towards one another, continuously laying side by side and kissing, hugging and grooming each other. When they had an argument, Gombe would self-bite and Yudy would bite the wooden doorstep. Neither one would bite the other.

·       Gombe’s displays (in my opinion) were normal male aggressive behaviors, including foot drumming, pant-hooting, cantering gates and/or lunging runs. These behaviors should not result in any self-inflictions or real apprehension from Yudy.

·       There are, however, concerns with the great frustration and redirected aggression that was observed. When Yudy bites the furniture, it is done with such intensity that I worry she will break her teeth. Gombe also must have some robust motivation and trigger to reach the level of frustration that he bites his own flesh.

·       It seems that Yudy smothers Gombe with her constant physical communication (e.g., touching, grooming, inviting Gombe to get up and follow her, etc.) and dominance. She is overwhelmingly controlling and possibly still considers Gombe as her young, adopted son. Gombe, however, is now an adult male. Please compare size differences from 2011 and 2014.

         2011 - Yudy on right, Gombe on left                  2014 - Gombe on left, Yudy on right

·       Gombe respects Yudy and does everything he is asked to; however, he seemed to be annoyed by it. Usually, when Gombe would lay down, Yudy would pull him up within a few minutes and either start grooming him or forcing him to follow her.

If Gombe tried to leave Yudy, she would immediately start trailing him. Gombe seemed suffocated from her attention.

·       Both animals have a very good relationship with their keepers, but Yudy’s bond with her keeper, Miguel, is stronger than that of Gombe with his keeper, William.

·       Chimpanzees have a fairly busy enrichment program, but it didn’t seem to be enough. The animals seemed bored on exhibit, lying around, inactive and just staring at the walls. They would finish food-related enrichment within a few minutes and then just lie on the ground, sit in the corners or by the night house door.

·       In one cage, the night house floor had wood shavings, but the chimpanzees did not have nesting materials such as straw, fresh leafy branches or paper.

Changes Made Immediately During My Visit

·       Stopping Gombe’s displays – When Gombe started to display (hooting and drumming), all staff immediately left the room, taking human attention and food reward with them. This method was successful in extinguishing Gombe’s displays and getting him to calm down.

·       Dividing Yudy’s attention – A toy monkey was offered to Yudy to see if it would divert some of her attention away from Gombe. Many female chimpanzees, both in captivity and in the wild, carry dolls and/or “stick dolls”  playing with or mothering them. Unfortunately, Gombe explored the toy first and took it apart. After that, Yudy had some mild interest in carrying the doll’s remains with her. 

·       Intensive training sessions – Topics covered extinction of behaviors, finding the right primary reinforcer, choosing the right trainer for each animal (based more on trust and relationship than assigned keepers and duties), filtering down training information, getting into personal space of animals and having animals initiate actions with keepers.

·       Separating animals for short periods of time – In order to give Gombe some free time from Yudy, a slow training program was developed. During the training sessions, Gombe and Yudy usually sat next to each other, although he would often leave her without being requested to do so. When this occurred, Yudy would break training to remain with Gombe. It was decided to switch the animals’ training positions and have Yudy to the left side (furthest night house cage from exhibit door). The door between the two night house cages is then gradually closed. Then, the door between the middle and third cages is closed. Finally, Gombe is closed onto exhibit. During these shaping steps, if Gombe becomes apprehensive or aggressive, he can go outside.

·       Browse – Edible tree branches, such as mulberry and cherry, were given to extend foraging time.

·       Nest building materials – Items such as straw, paper and edible branches were given inside and outside.

Suggestions:

·       Possibility of accessing chimpanzees 24/7 onto exhibit was explored. By purchasing a generatoror battery backup, possible hot wire failure is resolved and chimpanzees can be locked inside during morning routine for a short period of time for cleaning and training.

·       Exhibit can be closed off at the top with mesh (similar to tiger exhibit). This would give a chance for complete use of three dimensions, while preventing any risk of escape.

·       Higher furniture inside and outside can be placed as high as possible by connecting the three poles at the very top and moving the hammock.

·       3D – To further improve quality, permanent furniture, especially sleeping nests needs to be installed as high as possible both in on- and off-exhibit areas. Please review example pictures below. The night houses could utilize three dimensions by adding large tree trunks, ropes, fire hoses, hammocks, wooden shelves, etc. to increase space and allow opportunities for exercise, exploration and manipulation.

Metal basket, hammock and platform for sleeping furniture both inside and outside 

·       Doors would be advantageous and useful during introductions. Suggest building double sliding doors (one solid and the other one built from bars and mesh).

·       Windows and skylights should be installed to increase light, for chimpanzees to avoid the feeling of claustrophobia and to provide them the opportunity to see outside into their exhibit.

·       Mesh puzzle feeders can be installed to extend foraging times.

·       Toys such asBoomer ball products and recycled household products (cereal boxes, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, barrels, plastic cups, old plush toys, towels, clothing, tires, etc.) are excellent options to be used.

·       Creating a chimpanzee sanctuary by accessing chimpanzees 24/7 onto exhibit, increasing enrichment and training and modifying the exhibit can help with decreasing Gombe’s self-biting. However, these modifications alone might not be enough to change the dynamics between the two animals. These animals will always have an incredible age difference (22 years) and changing dominance with no chance for breeding (neither animal has learned the behavior). Bringing in additional chimpanzees might be able to break boredom, habits and create a complex unit resembling their wild counterparts. The National Zoo has funds to cover both major exhibit and night house modifications, as well as to pay for transportation of additional chimpanzees.

General Propositions

Night Houses, Off-Exhibit Areas and Correct Substrate Use

Suggestions:

Begin keeping animals off unyielding surfaces (brick, concrete, etc.), especially species that have sicknesses (Rhesus macaques with fur problems). The use of appropriate substrate (inside- paper products, hay or straw, etc.; outside- nonflammable materials such as grass, sand, soil, mulch, fresh browse, etc.) will make a significant difference not only in the animals’ mental and physical health, but also in improvement of the exhibit aesthetics. Using substrate will also reduce cleaning time and water consumption. Soaking, scrubbing and hosing dry waste takes much longer than spot cleaning due to substrate absorbing urine and covering feces. Reducing hosing and partially covering surfaces with substrate will overcome any of these obstacles and provide animals with a soft surface.

Carnivore keepers were immediately adding substrate to exhibits and the animals appeared to enjoy them greatly.

Lions lying in straw                                                                                                                     Cougar playing with straw

Browse

The zoo has a large amount of edible vegetation available on grounds that can provide fresh, leafy branches (browse).

Suggestions:

Browse should be provided at least every 2-3 days, but if possible, every day for animals that need it. The zoo can plant edible trees, bushes and even crops inside and outside of exhibits, along visitor pathways and resting areas that will provide future browsing materials for the collection’s growing demands. Whether cut by staff or available by natural damage, fallen vegetation can be used rather than wasted.

Immediate follow up: The Phoenix Zoo browse schedule by species and approved plant lists,and Cornell University’s toxic browse list, tree pruning procedures and soil cultivation information was provided.

Mixed Species Exhibits

Mixed species exhibits can be created in order to free up space and develop a more aesthetic, complex exhibit. This type of exhibit also resolves certain problems associated with housing otherwise social species alone until they are paired with a conspecific. Please review the photos of Phoenix Zoo mixed exhibits.

Extending Foraging Time

Suggestions:

All animals need to be fed in a way that their foraging time is extended and proper species-specific behaviors are encouraged. If no one can be appointed for this position, staff can be scheduled to cut browse and chop diet on a rotation basis.

General Suggestions for Elephant Care

The National Zoo currently has 1.1 African elephants on natural soil and concrete night houses. I was happy to see that the exhibit had a small sand pile added, but it is not large enough for resting. The surface of the exhibit was also smooth and flat and will need to be broken up.

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Sand at a depth of one meter needs to be added both inside the night house and onto the exhibit. Elephants cannot be kept on the concrete. It is very hard on their feet and joints and causes severe medical problems. Besides sand covering the floor, the elephants need access to a larger pile of sand (2 meter high) for them to lie down on. Please review Phoenix Zoo pictures below.

  
   
The animals should have food offered continuously from feeder devices (metal kegs with holes with food inside, hay bags, etc.) and mostly from up high. Hay bags can be woven from ropes. The nets from international cordage are made specifically for elephants. The zoo will have to contact the company for all the details about rope, size, etc. The Phoenix Zoo was the first zoo to have them, so our nets are prototypes. http://www.international-cordage.net/  

    
Elephants need to receive large EDIBLE tree branches every day
  
Tires can be hung from chains as enrichment.
   
Scratching posts made of palm trees can be chained or secured in any safe way onto the fence or the poles.
  
 Large tree logs (whole trees) can be laid all over the ground to encourage the animal to step over and around them, providing exercise.
   
  
   
  Clay wallow can help with proper skin care and prevent sunburn.
  
   
  Toys such as large Planet Balls are available athttp://boomerball.com/ <http://boomerball.com/>.  
     

I have found that the animal trainers are very caring and attentive to their animals. Additionally, they have an excellent training program. My only two suggestions would be to discontinue making animals lay down to sternal position and instead teach trunk wash for TB testing.

For further information, please contact Heather Wright, Phoenix Zoo Elephant Manager at hwright@thephxzoo.com.

Education

The following PowerPoint presentations were given to all staff: 

·       Lack of Substrate Use in Zoos addresses the easy fix of adding substrate to empty cages and shows the benefit to the animals’ lives when provided with substrate (i.e., when they do not have to sit inside empty, concrete cages). This is probably the most important animal welfare presentation to give out of the five.

·       Contra Freeloading at the Phoenix Zoo talks about extending foraging times by making animals work for their food in ways similar to their wild counterparts, instead of eating diet in short periods of time from provided dishes.

·       The Beneficial Browse presentationprovides guidelines on how to develop a low cost, zoo-wide browse program in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. It also addresses the major changes that fresh, leafy greens can make in the animals’ lives.

·       Let Them Be Elephants addresses the changes the Phoenix Zoo made in our elephants’ lives, how we helped their behaviors by teaching them how to correctly forage and behave like normal females. It also talks about basic husbandry, enrichment ideas and health care.

·       Chimpanzee: To understand, to mentor, to save discusses the chimpanzees’ physiological and behavioral similarities to humans.. Yet, despite the incredible resemblance and relatedness between chimpanzees and humans, I often find that chimpanzees are maintained in inadequate, and in some cases, deplorable conditions all around the world. Based upon these observations, it would seem that traditional conservation messages have not been widely effective in protecting these important animals when under human care. This presentation attempts to convey the intelligence, describe the sensitive minds and illustrate the social and physical needs of the chimpanzee. By revisiting this close relative of humans from a different angle, I hope that all people will begin to better appreciate these animals and their fundamental needs. Perhaps once humans are compared to chimpanzees, people will think more highly about these animals, look at them with respect and show more compassion, love and care towards them. And maybe, just maybe, we will realize the incredible injustice that is being done daily to a species that walks in the “shadow of man.”

Presentations are available at htresz@thephxzoo.com.

I would like to thank the National Zoo’s staff for their incredible hospitality, making me feel so welcomed and continuing such a wonderful, working relationship between the Jane Goodall Institute, the Phoenix Zoo and the National Zoo.