PRIMATE ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT

THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT AND ITS RECENT AMENDMENTS CALL FOR PROVISION OF PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS PROMOTING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF NON-HUMAN PRIMATES. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THE SUCCESS OF CHANGES INTENDED TO PROMOTE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING ARE NOT DEFINED. NO MEANS FOR IMPLEMENTING SUCH CHANGES ARE SPECIFIED. THIS LACK OF DEFINITION AND SPECIFICITY IS ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC FOR RESEARCH FACILITIES WHERE USE OF INFECTIOUS AGENTS REQUIRES CONTAINED HOUSING OR EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOLS DO NOT ALLOW ANIMALS TO ROAM FREELY. IN STUDYING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF NON-HUMAN PRIMATES AN ARRAY OF ENRICHMENT STRATEGIES MAY BE EXAMINED. FROM THIS ARRAY, IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO SELECT AND DEVELOP SYSTEMS WHICH WILL PROVIDE SOCIAL ENRICHMENT FOR A PARTICULAR SPECIES. THIS PHASE I PROPOSAL IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF A PROGRAM IN WHICH SYSTEMS FOR PRIMATE ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT CAN BE DEVELOPED. THE FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL RESULT IN A PLAN TO ASSESS THE VALUE OF OBJECTIVE BEHAVIORALCRITERIA FOR DEVELOPING ENRICHMENT PROCEDURES OF THREE BASICKINDS: FOOD, ALTERNATIVE CAGING, AND IMPLEMENTS OF DIVERSIONOR ENTERTAINMENT. THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO SPECIFICALLY REVIEW STRATEGIC APPROACHES, CREATE OBJECTIVE BEHAVIORAL PROTOCOLS, POSTULATE NECESSARY CONSTRAINTS DUE TOA PARTICULAR ANIMAL OR STUDY, FOLLOWED BY A FEASIBILITY STATEMENT AND RECOMMENDED APPROACHES.