The Use of Positive Reinforcement Training Techniques to Enhance the Care, Management, and Welfare of Primates in the Laboratory

Gail E. Laule
Active Environments, Lompoc, California

Mollie A. Bloomsmith
TECHLab, Zoo Atlanta and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia

Steven J. Schapiro
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, Texas

Handled frequently and subjected to a wide range of medical procedures that may be particularly invasive, nonhuman animals in a laboratory setting have unique needs. To produce the most reliable research results and to protect and enhance the well-being of the animals, it is desirable to perform these procedures with as little stress for the animals as possible. Positive reinforcement training can use targeted activities and procedures to achieve the voluntary cooperation of nonhuman primates. The benefits of such work include diminished stress on the animals, enhanced flexibility and reliability in data collection, and a reduction in the use of anesthesia. Training also provides the means to mitigate social problems, aid in introductions, reduce abnormal behavior, enhance enrichment programs, and increase the safety of attending personnel. This article describes the application of operant conditioning techniques to animal management.
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Positive Reinforcement Training as a Technique to Alter Nonhuman Primate Behavior: Quantitative Assessments of Effectiveness

Steven J. Schapiro
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Bastrop, Texas

Mollie A. Bloomsmith
TECHLab, Zoo Atlanta and Yerkes National Primate Research Center
Atlanta, Georgia

Gail E. Laule
Active Environments
Lompoc, California

Many suggest that operant conditioning techniques can be applied successfully to improve the behavioral management of nonhuman primates in research settings. However, relatively little empirical data exist to support this claim. This article is a review of several studies that discussed applied positive reinforcement training techniques (PRT) on breeding/research colonies of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and measured their effectiveness. Empirical analyses quantified the amount of time required to train rhesus monkeys to come Up, Station, Target, and Stay. Additionally, a study found that time spent affiliating by female rhesus was changed as a function of training low affiliators to affiliate more and high affiliators to affiliate less. Another study successfully trained chimpanzees to feed without fighting and to come Inside on command. Positive reinforcement training is an important behavioral management tool that can improve the care and welfare of primates in captivity. Published empirical findings are essential for managers to assess objectively the utility of positive reinforcement training techniques in enhancing captive management and research procedures.
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Working with Rather than Against Macaques during Blood Collection

Viktor Reinhardt
Animal Welfare Institute
Washington, D.C.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Viktor Reinhardt, 6014 Palmer Drive, Weed, CA 96094 E-mail: viktorawi@siskiyou.net

Training macaques to cooperate during blood collection is a practicable and safe alternative to the traditional procedure implying forced restraint. It takes a cumulative total of about 1 hour to train an adult female or adult male rhesus macaque successfully to present a leg voluntarily and accept venipuncture in the homecage. Cooperative animals do not show the significant cortisol response and defensive reactions that typically occur in animals who are forcibly restrained during this common procedure.
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Training Nonhuman Primates to Cooperate with Scientific Procedures in Applied Biomedical Research

Leah Scott, Peter Pearce, Sarah Fairhall, Neil Muggleton, and Jeremy Smith
Biomedical Sciences, Dstl Porton Down, UK

This report provides a brief overview of aspects of training nonhuman primates who have been, and continue to be, used in this laboratory. The research context involves applied behavioral studies in which animals are trained to perform complex operant behavioral sequences, often in their home cage environment. In such studies, animals have freedom to choose whether to engage in appetitively reinforced behavioral tests that employ neither food deprivation nor fluid management. This background of operant conditioning has provided an insight to, and a context for, animal training both as an adjunct to general laboratory management and as a way to expedite scientific procedures. Thus, training has potential implications for both wellbeing and scientific quality although it must be considered an adjunct to the provision of socialization with conspecifics in high quality diverse housing systems and not as an alternative to such provision. The importance of discussion and consideration of alternative procedures cannot be overemphasized.
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Training Common Marmosets (Callithrix Jacchus) to Cooperate During Routine Laboratory Procedures: Ease of Training and Time Investment

Jean McKinley, Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith, and Lois Bassett
Department of Psychology, University of Stirling

Keith Morris
MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, Edinburgh, Scotland

A study trained 12 laboratory-housed common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in pairs to assess the practicality of positive reinforcement training as a technique in the management of these nonhuman animals. Behaviors taught were (a) target-training to allow in homecage weighing and (b) providing urine samples. Ten-minute training sessions-- between 2 to 13-- established desired behaviors. Training aggressive animals only after they had been fed eliminated aggression during training. Trained animals proved extremely reliable, and data collection using trained animals was considerably faster than collection using current laboratory techniques. The results suggest that positive reinforcement training is a practical option in the management of laboratory-housed marmosets.
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Effects of Training on Stress-related Behavior of the Common Marmoset (Callithrix Jacchus) in Relation to Coping with Routine Husbandry Procedures

Lois Bassett, Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith, and Jean McKinley
Department of Psychology, University of Stirling

Tessa E. Smith
Department of Biological Sciences, Chester College of Higher Education

Using positive reinforcement, this study trained 12 common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) to provide urine samples on request. The study then exposed the marmosets to mildly stressful, routine husbandry procedures (i.e. capture and weighing). The nonhuman animals spent less time inactive post-as opposed to pre-stressor. The study collected matched behavioral data from 12 non-trained marmosets who were less accustomed to human interaction. These animals spent significantly more time self-scratching and locomoting as well as less time inactive, post-stressor. Collapsed data from the two populations showed increased scent-marking, post-stressor. These results suggest that locomotion, self-scratching, and scent-marking are useful, non-invasive behavioral measures of stress and, thus, reduced welfare in the common marmoset. Overall, non-trained animals showed more self-scratching than did their trained counterparts. It was not possible to collect urine from non-trained marmosets. In response to the stressor, however, trained animals showed no significant change in excreted urinary cortisol. These results suggest that training marmosets may allow them to cope better with routine laboratory procedures.
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Primate Training at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Hollie Colahan, Chris Breder and Jacqueline Ogden
Disney's Animal Kingdom, PO Box 10000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

A training program has been in place at Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK) since the nonhuman animals first arrived at the park. The Primate Team and the Behavioral Husbandry Team have worked together closely to establish a philosophy and framework for this program. This framework emphasizes setting goals, planning, implementing, documenting, and evaluating. The philosophy focuses on safety, staff training, and an integrated approach to training as an animal management tool. Behaviors to be trained include husbandry and veterinary as well as behaviors identified for specific species, individuals, or situations. Input from all the teams was used to prioritize these behaviors. Despite the challenges to maintaining such a program, the benefits to animal care and welfare have been enormous.
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The Development of an Operant Conditioning Training Program for New World Primates at the Bronx Zoo

Gina Savastano, Amy Hanson, and Colleen McCann
Mammal Department, Bronx Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Society, New York

This study developed an operant conditioning training program for 17 species of New World primates at the Bronx Zoo. To apply less invasive techniques to husbandry protocols, the study introduced behaviorsChand feeding, syringe feeding, targeting, scale and crate training, and transponder readingCfor formal training to 86 callitrichids and small-bodied cebids housed in 26 social groups. Individual responses to training varied greatly, but general patterns were noted among species. With the exception of lion tamarins, tamarins responded more rapidly than marmosets, Bolivian gray titi monkeys, and pale-headed saki monkeys in approaching trainers and learning behaviors. Marmosets, in comparison to most tamarins, had longer attention spans. This meant that fewer, lengthier sessions were productive while shorter, more frequent sessions were most successful for tamarins. Among the cebids, pale-headed saki monkeys needed relatively few sessions to perform basic and advanced behaviors while Bolivian gray titi monkeys were less responsive and progressed at a deliberate pace. Marked changes in the animals' behavior during daily husbandry procedures, their voluntary participation in training activities, and the disappearance of aggressive threats toward care staff indicated that training reduced stress and improved the welfare of the animals. During daily training displays, zoo visitors experienced interactive animals while learning the importance of low-stress animal husbandry.

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