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Edinburgh Research Explorer Edinburgh Research Explorer Studying primate personality in zoos Citation for published version: Gartner, MC & Weiss, A 2018, 'Studying primate personality in zoos: Implications for the management, welfare and conservation of great apes', International Zoo Yearbook, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 79-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/izy.12187 Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1111/izy.12187 Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Published In: International Zoo Yearbook General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 30. Sep. 2021 STUDYING PERSONALITY IN ZOO-LIVING GREAT APES 1 Int. Zoo Yb. (2018) 52: 1–13 DOI:10.1111/izy.12187 Studying primate personality in zoos: implications for the management, welfare and conservation of great apes M. C. GARTNER1,* & A. WEISS2,3,* 1Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA,2Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom, and 3Scottish Primate Research Group, United Kingdom E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] As we face the Anthropocene extinction, many species welfare of the animals in their care. The are threatened or becoming so, and great ape species advantages of studying personality, and are no exception (all are Endangered or Critically Endangered). As humans work to combat this trend, probably other behavioural phenomena, in research on every aspect of the lives of animals is primates that are housed in zoos (rather than vital. One area of research that has the potential to be those in the field or laboratory) are described. particularly useful is the study of personality. Zoologi- The authors will discuss how zoos can and cal institutions offer a unique opportunity for research have contributed to the literature about pri- on personality in non-human primates, with knowl- edgeable staff, consistency in environment, accessibil- mate personality, deliberate about the ways ity of a variety of species and the possibility to have in which such knowledge can facilitate man- large sample sizes to provide generalizability. Here, we agement of great apes in zoos, and consider offer a perspective on how zoos have contributed to how future research might have implications the personality literature, how the personality literature can aid animal management and how much further for welfare and conservation. such research can continue, with implications for both welfare and conservation. STUDIES INTO THE PERSONALITY Key-words: conservation; genetics; great apes; OF PRIMATES personality; primates; research; welfare; zoos. The study of personality in non-human pri- mates has been ongoing since at least the 1930s, although it was only since around INTRODUCTION the 1990s that it attracted the attention of All taxa of great apes are threatened (IUCN, more than a handful of researchers (Whi- 2017) and it is imperative that those who tham & Washburn, 2017). The early work to conserve such species research all research included studies of Chimpanzees aspects of their lives to improve the informa- Pan troglodytes in which personality was tion and resources available to expand our assessed using behavioural measures and knowledge. The goal here is to discuss how ratings (Crawford, 1938; Hebb, 1946a,b, research in zoos has contributed to our 1949). These studies tested whether sub- understanding of the personality of great jects displayed individual differences in apes, and how work on primate personality their behaviour, and in their emotional and can contribute to the goals of zoos and to the cognitive tendencies. The various studies *The authors contributed equally to this work. Int. Zoo Yb. (2018) 52: 1–13 © 2018 The Authors. International Zoo Yearbook published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. 2 CONSERVATION OF GREAT APES assessed whether these differences were and dizygotic twins) have found that consistent across raters and/or stable over genetic differences in personality account time, and whether groups of traits defined for around half of the variation in personal- personality dimensions. Further research ity among individuals (Bouchard & Loeh- included a study of Olive baboons Papio lin, 2001). These twin studies and studies anubis in Nairobi National Park, Kenya of non-twin human siblings have also found (Buirski et al., 1973), a study of Chim- that the non-genetic variation is attributable panzees at Gombe National Park (Buirski to within-family effects (Bouchard & Loeh- et al., 1978) and multiple studies of Rhesus lin, 2001). It is not the characteristics of the macaques Macaca mulatta (Chamove et al., family environment in which one has 1972; Stevenson-Hinde & Zunz, 1978; grown up that make humans differ from Stevenson-Hinde et al., 1980a,b). In addi- one another, but environmental influences tion to testing whether there were stable that have their effect on one child but not individual differences in personality traits another. In other words, whether people and a clustering of traits that signalled the grew up in rich, poor or middle-class presence of underlying dimensions, these households, contributes minimally, if at all, studies examined sex and age differences in to personality differences among individu- personality, and associations between per- als; however, the friends that one child had sonality and rank. that the other child did not have might very The next burst of investigations into the well lead to differences in personality personality of primates, which started dur- (Harris, 1998). ing the 1990s and is still ongoing, included Although the social structures of non- studies of primates in laboratory colonies, human primate species differ from one in the wild and those living in zoos. Non- another and from human social structures, it invasive research in zoos and sanctuaries is possible to conduct quantitative genetic has contributed to our understanding of the studies. The pedigrees of many zoo-housed biological bases of personality and its con- primates are important to maintain and pro- sequences, as we will discuss throughout mote genetic diversity (Glatson, 1986; this article. Basic research tends to be asso- Goossens et al., 2002). By analysing these ciated more with that conducted at primate pedigrees, it is possible to determine the research centres or similar facilities and, extent to which genetic or environmental increasingly, in the field. However, studies influences are responsible for personality of zoo-living primates are growing in num- variation. Pedigrees and other information ber and include work on the genetics of can be used to test the degree to which clo- personality, personality phylogeny, and the sely related individuals are more or less associations between personality and both similar and whether sharing a mother or an physical and psychological health. enclosure is related to how similar individu- als are to one another (Kruuk, 2004; Wilson, A. J., et al., 2010). Genetics of personality To date, although there have been few It is possible to examine the degree to genetic studies in zoo populations, the which personality differences between indi- results resemble those found in humans and viduals are attributable to genetic differ- non-primate species. Research on zoo- ences and the degree to which non-genetic housed Chimpanzees (Weiss et al., 2000; influences are responsible for these same Wilson, V. A. D., et al., 2017), orangutans personality differences (Plomin et al., Pongo spp (Adams et al., 2012) and Bono- 2013). Studies of animals bred for higher bos Pan paniscus (Staes et al., 2016) has or lower levels of personality traits (e.g. indicated that personality variation appears anxiety) and studies that compare differ- to be partly related to genetic differences ently related individuals (e.g. monozygotic between individuals and partly related to Int. Zoo Yb. (2018) 52: 1–13 © 2018 The Authors. International Zoo Yearbook published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London. STUDYING PERSONALITY IN ZOO-LIVING GREAT APES 3 the influences of environmental effects that and multiple dimensions in another. Phylo- operate at the within-zoo or within-family genetic studies have been used to help clar- level. At the time of writing, no comparable ify the evolution of personality in primates. study has been conducted on gorillas Gor- Such studies have also provided a clearer illa spp. understanding of personality evolution in Some genetic studies involve the attempt humans,
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