Social and Cognitive Capabilities of Nonhuman Primates: Lessons from the Wild to Captivity

All anthropoid primates in nature lead highly social lives. In infancy and childhood, this is characterized by stability and familiarity for both sexes; in adulthood, either one or the other sex changes groups. The natal group provides a social network of matrilineal kinship. After sexual maturity, incest avoidance and exogamy are the rules. Significant differences exist across species and between the sexes in mating strategies. In most species, males emigrate, but in others, females do so. Male sexual behavior is based on competition between peers; females exercise choice in selecting sexual partners. Normal development of sexual behavior and maternal caretaking requires contact with adults. According to one school of thought, the selection pressures of dynamic life in groups led to the evolution of social intelligence. Such cognitive abilities are manifested in coalitions and reciprocity based on assessing the predictability of others\u27 behavior over time, i.e., on long-term relationships and short-term interactions. Another school of thought sees the evolutionary origins of cognitive capacities in the demands of subsistence. Extractive foraging requires varied techniques for the acquisition and skillful processing of foods. Long-term memory and cognitive mapping facilitate optimal budgeting of daily activities such as ranging. The absence of such social and environmental challenges may lead to pathological behavior

Humans have always been unique!

Arguments about human uniqueness apply not only to extant species but also to extinct ones, that is, the hominin predecessors of anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Thus, unique and superior are doubly relative terms, in past and present. The scope for empirical comparison faces a spectrum of difficulty, from material (e.g., artefacts) to non-material (e.g., concepts) phenomena

Guardian Dog Research in the U.S.

Research on the use and effectiveness of guardian dogs has been conducted since 1977 at 3 locations in the U.S.: the Livestock Dog Project (Amherst, MA), the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (Dubois, ID), and Colorado State University (Ft. Collins). Their findings are quite consistent: dogs guard sheep and goats directly, i.e., they respond aggressively to predators, chasing them away when necessary, then returning to the flock. This aggressive response toward predators is apparently defense of personal space rather than territorial defense. The development of attentiveness toward sheep, beginning early in life, is probably the most important aspect of training a guardian dog. Between 60 and 80% of all dogs studied to date in the 3 projects were judged\u27 to have reduced predation to some extent. Purchase and annual maintenance costs for a dog can be recovered in most situations even if predation is not totally eliminated. In a hypothetical example, a dog which reduced predation on an Angora goat operation by 50% would increase its owner\u27s return by about $55 per animal unit. Dogs should not be thought of as a panacea for the predator problem, but rather as an important addition to the other lethal and non-lethal control measures available

Letter to Editor: Monkey Housing: Every Litter Bit Helps

Non-human primates, laboratory housin

Practicalities of re-wilding

Re-wilding large-brained, intelligent mammals dependent on social learning to acquire survival skills is challenging. Each reintroduced species has different needs, but basic questions relating to essential aspects of successful release such as subsistence remain the same. Here I pose 12 ecologically and ethologically based questions that should be addressed (if not already done)

Book Review of The Question of Animal Awareness and Animals Are Equal

McGrew reviews two books addressing what lies behind the behavior of nonhuman species. Griffin\u27s book caused considerable discussion when it first appeared five years earlier. The book has become the cornerstone of a new discipline – cognitive ethology. Three new chapters (on mental experiences, semantics, and evolutionary continuity) have been added to the original eight in the first edition. Almost a third of the cited studies have appeared since the first edition\u27s publication, illustrating the unexpected richness of the new findings. Griffin emphasizes that animal communication is the richest source of material, leading to inferences about animal minds. Griffin is careful not to overstate his case. Hall\u27s book is very different, and the two books, while focusing on more-or-less the same topic, could not be more different. However, McGrew argues that both books challenge the long-held assumptions about the mental lives of other species. Direct evidence of animal mental lives may be hard to find, but even the most prudent interpretation of the new research raises ethical implications