Hi everyone

I am a third year PhD student who is doing a survey as part of my overall study. My PhD is about control and choice in captive primates, and I am interested in how communication between caregivers and primates affects the amount of environmental control they can get. I am also keen to learn how personality affects issues such as choice and control in the great apes. With this in mind I hope to better our understanding of welfare needs of primates in captivity.

The survey is available online, usually easiest for people to complete, and takes about 30 minutes. I can email a copy as a word document or snail mail a copy as well upon request.

The criteria for participation are that you are over 18 years of age and care for any species of primate. The survey can be anonymous or you can leave details to request the results at the conclusion of the study.

One important component is the personality rating scales, which are included for the carers of orangutans, gorillas and chimps. You can request that the personality type be supplied to you of that subject in addition to the results. I particularly urge carers to ask their colleagues to complete the survey for their apes if they complete one, as the personality rating scales are more accurate when there are multiple carers completing them for each ape. For example, it is better for four keepers to complete one survey each on one individual ape than to have four different surveys on different individuals. For other primate species this is not important as there are no personality ratings scales used.

Your participation is both crucial for the study to succeed and much appreciated, and I thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey. It is not until we understand what our primates need, can we give it to them!

The web address is Communication between primates and caregivers.

To obtain word versions of the survey please go to AARCG Homepage and download the word document that corresponds to the species you work with (for bonobos please use the chimp document)

or I can be reached on joanne.davis@unisa.edu.au for email versions or hard copies. For more details on my work please go to AARCG Homepage

cheers!
Jo

Very interested in hearing more about your studies.

I am currently involved with primate keepers across the UK, who may also be very pleased to assist you with your study group and discussions.

Perhaps we can discuss this further to see if my group can help you?

Please pm me.

It is a very exciting concept to see this kind of thread on this forum, for it shows that globally RFUK is now being seen as a forerunner for primate discussion.

Thanks for posting here.

Cheers

Rory Matier

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Thanks Rory, will pm now.

Also, thank you to anyone who has done the survey, much appreciated!