Host: Primate Society of Japan
Human tends to enjoy watching videos on television, cinema, and so on. Recent studies revealed that non-human primates, especially great apes, possess visual perception and cognitive process in the recognition of movie stimuli that are highly similar to those of human vision. In contrast, welfare studies on sensory enrichment using TV programs and movie stimuli targeted non-human primates succeeded to attract individuals only for limited period, mostly at the beginning of the presentation. Thus, sensory enrichment using video stimuli has not been popular for in laboratories, zoos, and sanctuaries comparing to feeding and social enrichment programs. The video stimuli presented in those studies were edited for human viewing and/or from the viewpoint of human. An amazing diversity in stimulus preferences exists both across and within different species. In the present study, we examined the attractiveness of conspecific live-streaming video stimuli in captive male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). The stimuli were presented using two of 27-inch LCD monitors, which were built in an electric door between the two different outdoor enclosures. Each monitor faced each different enclosure and showed up the live-streaming of 5-10 individuals in the opposite enclosure using a miniature video camera set up for both sides. All the subjects, 16 adult male chimpanzees, were familiar with each other and both enclosures. Under the condition, we collected the behavioral data that chimpanzees at both enclosures freely communicate each other. The data was analyzed in terms of the duration that chimpanzees spent in front of the monitor, the type and its frequency of communication, and the temporal distribution that chimpanzees visited the monitors for the application of sensory enrichment with video stimuli in captive chimpanzees.
