Utilização de técnicas de Enriquecimento Ambiental para promoção do bem-estar de dois espécimes de Sapajus libidinosus (Primates, Cebidae) no Zoológico Municipal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG.

Abstract

Providing welfare is a challenge for institutions that keep animals under human care, as they are more likely to experience a low level of welfare. Environmental enrichment techniques can be adopted in order to maintain a better quality environment for these animals. This work aimed to propose environmental enrichment techniques for two female capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from the Uberlândia Municipal Zoo and to evaluate the behavioral response of these animals to new stimuli. Thus, behavioral observation sessions were carried out divided into four stages, namely 1) Stage of qualification of behaviors, 2) Stage of pre-enrichment, 3) Stage of environmental enrichment, 4) Stage of post-environmental enrichment, with the purpose of to provide the most appropriate enrichment for the animals and measure their welfare through behavioral analysis. Regarding the budget of daily activities, during all quantitative stages, both animals had the behaviors "locomotion" and "feeding" being the main ones. In stage 2, individual A presented more interactions with the environment and individual B spent more time foraging. In step 3, individual A spent less time foraging and more time moving and individual B spent less time without moving. And in step 4, individual A stayed longer without moving and showed less stereotypies. Stereotyped behaviors were more frequent during the presentation of the “trunk with honey” enrichment for individual A, while individual B presented more stereotypes during the “magazines” enrichment. The largest interaction was with the items “trunk with honey” and “cognitive framework”, for individuals A and B, respectively. The results showed a lower rate of behaviors indicative of low animal welfare, such as lack of mobility and stereotypy, after the application of environmental enrichment, . Thus, environmental enrichment techniques seem to have contributed to some degree of improvement in animal welfare.