Social management in captive great apes: An overview of current practice and related studies

Abstract

With the accumulation of knowledge regarding sociality of animals, social enrichment is regarded as one of the most important part of captive animal care. Although the basic knowledge has been accumulated, sociality involves complex issues. Moreover, practical methodologies for social management remain controversial. In this paper, we overview the current studies and practices of social management on four great ape species (chimpanzees, western lowland gorillas, and Bornean and Sumatran orangutans) housed in Japanese zoos to advance the sociality discussion. We first describe the fundamentals of sociality in animals. Then we explore important topics of sociality, including social relationships in captivity, all male group formation in chimpanzees and gorillas, group living in orangutans, and welfare of disabled and geriatric individuals. Although the number of sociality studies has recently increased, to maximize the positive effects of captive social living, more detailed understanding of the effects of social factors on animals using scientific methodologies is important.