Short-term evaluation of a foraging device for non-human primates

In the USA, any institution involved in using non-human primates for research has had, for regulatory reasons, to address the psychological needs of these animals. Enriching the environment through the use of foraging devices has been one method and a study was designed to evaluate the short-term effect of a new foraging device on singly-housed cynomolgus monkeys. The study was divided into 3 one-week periods of observation: baseline, device filled with normal ration, and device filled with a novel food. Four behaviours were recorded: foraging, self-directed, hopper feeding, and other behaviours. During the observation periods the device was accepted in preference to the standard hopper style feeder and self-directed behaviours were significantly reduced compared with the baseline period. Changing to a novel food re-kindled interest in the device and reduced the extinguishing effect: i.e. decrease in interest or use of the device. Based on this study, the feeder has been included with several other devices in a rotation programme.