A Grass Foraging Device for Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)
-
Published source details
Lambeth S.P. & Bloomsmith M.A. (1994) A Grass Foraging Device for Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes). Animal Welfare, 3, 13-24
Published source details Lambeth S.P. & Bloomsmith M.A. (1994) A Grass Foraging Device for Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes). Animal Welfare, 3, 13-24
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
| Action | Category | |
|---|---|---|
|
Primates: Provide live vegetation in planters for foraging Action Link |
 |
-
Primates: Provide live vegetation in planters for foraging
A replicated, before-and-after study in 1991 in the USA (Lambeth & Bloomsmith 1994) reported that chimpanzees Pan troglodytes, provided with a foraging device containing planted rye grass and scattered sunflower seeds, spent more time foraging, compared to a feeder containing just grass, with browse added to the enclosure as their normal diet throughout, although no statistical tests were carried out. Chimpanzees foraging behaviour increased from an average of 2% when the feeder contained grass to 12% when the container contained grass with sunflower seeds. PVC pipe cut in half lengthwise and planted with rye grass seed was attached to the outside of six different enclosures containing two or four out of the 14 chimpanzees observed in the study. All chimpanzees in all six enclosures were then given sunflower seeds added to the grass. Behavioural observations over 54 hours were conducted under the two conditions: grass container alone and grass container with scattered sunflower seeds. (CJ)
