SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Zoos and Apes: Behind the Curtain
from the Economist
Once, they were grim places of bars and concrete. But zoos today are, more often than not, places where endangered species are bred in verdant and naturalistic enclosures. At least, that is what the public sees.
As night falls and the facilities need to be cleaned, the animals are commonly led into small concrete holding areas. For decades zoos around the world have used such areas without question and assumed that their effects on the animals' behaviour were negligible so long as high-quality enclosures were available during the day. This notion may, however, be wrong, for a new study shows that, at least among the great apes, holding areas have a dramatic effect on behaviour.
While working with chimpanzees and gorillas, Stephen Ross, a primatologist at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, noticed that the animals changed their behaviour when they were moved in and out of the holding areas. Curious as to whether these changes were happening regularly, and keen to identify specifically how behaviour was changing, Mr. Ross and a team of his colleagues decided to carry out an experiment.
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