DO ORANG-UTANS SEEK OUT CONTACT WITH ZOO VISITORS?

Unlike your pet dog or cat, zoo animals are exposed to many unfamiliar humans every day. It has been suggested that zoo visitors have an adverse impact on primate behaviour and welfare, and so it is important to understand the zoo animal-visitor relationship for these species.

Ms Rachel Bloomfield and Professor Paul Hemsworth from the University of Melbourne investigated the effects of visitors on Melbourne Zoo's five Orang-utans.

AIM

To evaluate the motivation for captive Orang-utans to seek or avoid close visitor contact using a preference test.

METHODS

The main visitor viewing window in the Orang-utan Sanctuary was altered to create three viewing treatments:

1. Entire window uncovered
2. Left side of window covered, right side uncovered
3. Right side of window covered, left side uncovered

The effects of these three treatments on the location and orientation of the five orang-utans were studied over nine weeks in 2009.

RESULTS

The amount of time the Orang-utans spent on the platform was not affected by viewing treatment.

Viewing treatment, however, affected the side of the platform where animals were located: the Orang-utans spent more time on the uncovered side of the window than the covered side. Furthermore, when on the uncovered side, the animals spent more time directly looking at the viewing area than looking away.

There were also significant animal effects of viewing treatment on location, with most animals showing a preference for the right side.

Most observations were conducted when there was a visitor audience. Applying a window cover, however, altered the number of visitors present: more visitors were present when the right side was uncovered. Furthermore, visitors appeared to prefer Treatment 2 over Treatment 3 (i.e. right side uncovered).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study support previous research that shows primates do not
avoid close visitor contact. In fact, visitors may be preferred stimuli and have an enriching effect on animal behaviour.

The method of testing animal preferences by manipulating enclosure variables has not been used previously and is a promising development in zoo studies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

- on Melbourne Zoo's Orang-utans - click here.

- on Sumatran Orang-utans and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - click here.