Great Ape Trust scientist renews call for change in ape welfare following new study

Des Moines, Iowa – July 1, 2011 – A new study that shows serious behavioral abnormalities are endemic among captive chimpanzees has brought about a renewed call for significant change in ape care and welfare by a leading expert on great ape intelligence and behavior. The study conducted by the University of Kent indicates the abnormalities, some of which are similar to mental illness in humans, include self-mutilation, repetitive rocking, the eating of feces and drinking of urine.

Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a scientist at Great Ape Trust, a research facility in Des Moines, Iowa dedicated to the study of culture, language, tools and intelligence, cites a need to address great ape welfare beyond accommodations, physical needs and enrichment. Savage-Rumbaugh brought the issue to light several years ago in a scientific article “Welfare of Apes in Captive Environments: Comments on, and by, a specific group of apes” published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.

“Efforts to improve captive welfare in apes have focused upon the need for social companions, adequate cage space, fresh fruits and vegetables, variety in the diet, and some type of ‘enrichment,’” wrote Savage-Rumbaugh. “While these enriched environments have surely provided for an overall improvement in the lives of captive apes, they have thus far failed to take into account the kinds of sociological, psychological and cultural factors that are central to the adequate functioning of ape social groups, and/or to the individual psyche expression in non-captive settings.”

Savage-Rumbaugh listed as co-authors on the JAAWS scientific paper three language-competent bonobos, Kanzi, Panbanisha and Nyota, who live in a bicultural environment and participate in her noninvasive, voluntary research program at Great Ape Trust.

For additional information on this important issue, Savage-Rumbaugh suggests you review Can Chimpanzee Biology Highlight Human Origin and Evolution? by Itai Roffman and Eviatar Nevo that appeared in the publication Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, (2010)

Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh also encourages you to review the following published articles by Dr. G.A. Bradshaw, the executive director of The Kerulos Center. Dr. Bradshaw's work focuses on human-animal relationships and trauma recovery of species that include elephants, grizzly bears, tortoises, chimpanzees, and parrots.

We, Matata: Bicultural Living Among Apes

Development Context Effects On Bicultural Posttrauma Self Repair in Chimpanzees

Building an Inner Sanctuary: Complex PTSD in Chimpanzees

You may also wish to review Dr. Bradshaw's recent blog on Psychology Today's Web site: The Anatomy of Animal Madness.

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