Behavioural science
BPRC not only spends a great deal of time training its monkeys, but is also highly active in the field of ‘ethological research’ (i.e., observation), which helps us give our monkeys even better living conditions and gives us insights that may be useful to other researchers, as well.
Observing monkey behaviour
Every once in a while, the media will post a news story (often a funny one) about monkey behaviour observed by researchers – stories such as ‘Talking with your body hair’ and ‘Macaques are drama queens’. The chances are that BPRC contributed to such stories, because we conduct a lot of behavioural research.
The main reason why BPRC engages in so much behavioural science is because we seek to continue improving our animals' welfare. The better we understand our monkeys' behaviour, the better we will be able to keep making improvements to our monkeys' enclosures. Moreover, our studies teach us more about the evolution of behaviour, which knowledge we can also apply to humans.
Partnership with Utrecht University
We conduct ethological research in association with Utrecht University, under the supervision of Prof. Liesbeth Sterk, who is well known for her research on sexual relations and friendships among monkey species. We are a reliable partner to the university because we can guarantee that the animals are in good hands at BPRC, partly because we can guarantee proper care and housing at all times.
The best possible academic behaviour research
That Utrecht University trusts us is proved by the fact that the university made a financial contribution to our new animal enclosures and transferred its own colony of monkeys to us and moved it into our enclosures. After all, it is important in behavioural research that the monkeys can live as they would in nature, meaning they must have as much freedom and space as we are able to give them. Our enclosures meet these requirements. Our monkeys' enclosures were designed in such a way that researchers and students have a great opportunity to study monkey behaviour. We can present scholars with all the conditions they need to conduct the best possible ethological research on non-human primates.
Observing behaviour
Our partnership with the university mainly concerns the crab-eating macaques, but the other species are involved, as well. Biology students use all the knowledge we have gained over the years, and we teach them how to properly observe monkey behaviour. BPRC has special enclosures where the monkeys can be watched closely and filmed, with students monitoring the monkeys' facial expressions and sounds. The news story about ‘talking with your hair’ was born from a study carried out here at BPRC.
A great side-effect of ethological research (and training) is that it contributes to the 3Rs (reduction, refinement and replacement). After all, a better understanding of monkeys will help us make an even more targeted selection for our studies, meaning we will need fewer animals to carry out our studies. A better understanding will also help us further improve our animals' enclosures and the care with which we provide them.
