scholarly journals A Stepwise Male Introduction Procedure to Prevent Inbreeding in Naturalistic Macaque Breeding Groups

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Astrid Rox ◽  
André H. van Vliet ◽  
Jan A. M. Langermans ◽  
Elisabeth H. M. Sterck ◽  
Annet L. Louwerse
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Crucial Information ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
Male Rhesus ◽  
Housing Facility

Male introductions into captive primate breeding groups can be risky and unsuccessful. However, they are necessary to prevent inbreeding in naturalistic breeding groups. The procedure used to introduce new individuals may affect the success and influence the risks associated with group introductions. At the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, male rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) introductions into naturalistic social groups with a matrilineal structure and without a breeding male achieve relatively high success rates. This paper describes the male introduction procedure used at the BPRC. Males are stepwise familiarized with and introduced to their new group, while all interactions between the new male and the resident females are closely monitored. Monitoring the behaviour of the resident females and their new male during all stages of the introduction provides crucial information as to whether or not it is safe to proceed. The BPRC introduction procedure is widely applicable and may improve the management of captive primate groups in any housing facility worldwide. Thus, the careful introduction management can minimize the risk associated with male introductions and enhance the welfare of captive primates.

scholarly journals The utility of voluntary weighing in captive group-living rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-258
Author(s):  
DGM Zijlmans ◽  
MK Vernes ◽  
EHM Sterck ◽  
JAM Langermans
Keyword(s):  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Time Investment ◽  
Routine Handling

Bodyweight is an important health and welfare indicator for captive non-human primates (NHPs). Bodyweight can be measured during routine handling procedures, which cause stress. Alternatively, animals can be trained to step onto a scale, but training success varies greatly between individuals. Being able to weigh animals regularly without having to handle or train them is thus desirable for monitoring animal health and welfare. This study investigates the utility, ie the participation, reliability and time investment, of voluntary weighing in captive NHPs living in large social groups. Subjects of the study were 92 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) housed in four social groups at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. A scale was placed in their home enclosure during several sessions. Individuals were unwilling to step onto an unbaited scale. When likeable food items were used to attract individuals to the scale, 68% of them stepped onto the scale. Age and dominance rank did not affect stepping onto the scale, whereas exploratory tendency and social group did. The level of agreement between bodyweight by voluntary weighing and bodyweight measured during sedation was very high. These results show that the majority of rhesus macaques in social groups can be weighed voluntarily and that voluntary weighing is reliable. When optimising and further developing the method, voluntary weighing can form a valuable tool in the captive management of NHPs.

Contribution of adult sex ratio to trauma and reproductive output in large breeding groups of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-492
Author(s):  
J Crast ◽  
MA Bloomsmith ◽  
CM Remillard ◽  
T Meeker
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
Financial Burdens

Maintaining stable breeding groups of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) can be challenging due to the complex social dynamics and despotic nature of the species. Trauma from aggression is a common problem in rhesus colonies and can cause social disruption, strain veterinary and animal management resources, and potentially affect reproduction. Previous research has shown that increasing the number of non-natal adult males in a breeding group can improve group stability, reduce trauma, and increase reproduction. Here, we used mixed-effects regression models to examine the effects of sex ratio and other factors on trauma and reproduction at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center using a historical dataset made up of four large rhesus groups over an eleven-year period (2003–2013). As expected, sex ratio was a significant predictor for both trauma and reproduction. However, group age since formation was a stronger predictor of trauma frequency and the amount of space available was a slightly better predictor of reproduction than sex ratio or trauma. These results indicate that improving sex ratios can be a viable management strategy to reduce trauma and improve reproduction, particularly when it is difficult to manipulate the group compositions and/or their housing situations. Reducing trauma is a primary goal for rhesus breeding colonies, as it directly impacts the monkeys' health and psychological well-being. Such improvements are necessary for the ethical treatment and care of the animals themselves, but also to reduce financial burdens and maintain a healthy colony for research purposes.

scholarly journals Spontaneous endometriosis in rhesus macaques: evidence for a genetic association with specific Mamu-A1 alleles

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Ivanela Kondova ◽  
Gerco Braskamp ◽  
Peter J. Heidt ◽  
Wim Collignon ◽  
Tom Haaksma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mhc Class I ◽  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
The United States ◽  
Class I ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract. Endometriosis is a poorly understood common debilitating women's reproductive disorder resulting from proliferative and ectopic endometrial tissue associated with variable clinical symptoms including dysmenorrhea (painful menstrual periods), dyspareunia (pain on intercourse), female infertility, and an increased risk of malignant transformation. The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) develops a spontaneous endometriosis that is very similar to that seen in women. We hypothesized that specific major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis. As part of a collaboration between the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC) in the Netherlands and the New England Primate Research Center (NEPRC) in the United States, we analyzed DNA sequences of MHC class I (Macaca mulatta, Mamu-A1) and class II (Mamu-DRB) alleles from rhesus macaques with endometriosis and compared the allele frequencies with those of age-matched healthy macaques. We demonstrate that two MHC class I alleles are overrepresented in diseased macaques compared to controls: Mamu-A1*001, 33.3 % in BPRC animals with endometriosis vs. 11.6 % in healthy macaques (p =  0.007), and Mamu-A1*007, 21.9 % NEPRC rhesus macaques vs. 6.7 %, (p =  0.003). We provide evidence that select MHC class I alleles are associated with endometriosis in rhesus macaques and suggest that the disease pathogenesis contribution of MHC class I warrants further research.

scholarly journals Use of Introduction Enclosures to Integrate Multimale Cohorts into Groups of Female Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly L Bailey ◽  
Leigh Anna Young ◽  
Caroline E Long ◽  
Caren M Remillard ◽  
Shannon E Moss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Female Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Male Rhesus

Integrating animals into a new group is a challenge for both free-ranging and captive adult male rhesus monkeys (Macacamulatta), and for females in groups receiving new males. To ensure the genetic viability of the population, however, maletransfers must occur in both natural and captive settings. To facilitate the introduction of groups of adult males to adult females, we designed a new enclosure that is attached to the outdoor compound where females are housed. Here we describethe construction of 3 introduction enclosures, their use during 4 introductions of groups of adult males to adult females, abrief comparison of introduction success rates associated with the new introduction enclosures with those of our traditionalmale introduction method, and a critique by the various groups of staff members working with the new enclosures. Overall, the introduction enclosures benefitted both the macaques and the facility personnel and appear to be a useful enhancementto our process of integrating breeding groups.

The Cooking Ape: An Interview with Richard Wrangham

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
elisabeth townsend
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
Cooked Food ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Brain

Humans: The Cooking Ape Perhaps the first to suggest that humans were cooking as early as 1.9 million years ago, Richard Wrangham shows through his new research and his imagination how and possibly when cooking changed humans dramatically. Wrangham, Harvard University primatologist and MacArthur Fellow, has been studying the evolution of human cooking. After 25 years of primate research at his site in Kibale, Uganda, Wrangham is best known for explaining the similarity and differences across species of primate social organizations. In Kibale, he has analyzed chimpanzees’ behavior: how it’s changed when they interact with the environment and how their social groups have evolved. In particular, he noticed how food changed their interactions with each other. Like that of chimps, human behavior has been affected by food, especially as they shifted from raw to cooked food. Moving from eating food as it was discovered to collecting edibles and cooking them altered our social relationships. Cooked food has changed Homo sapiens physically by making food more digestible thereby altering jaws, teeth, and guts, and providing more calories for more expensive organs such as the brain. Wrangham discusses when and how humans may have started using fire to cook food, what they cooked, and the transition from cooking in an outdoor fire to hearths and open ovens.

scholarly journals Retrospective Analysis of the Effectiveness and Reversibility of Long-Acting Contraception Etonogestrel (Implanon®) in Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 963
Author(s):  
Sandra Roubos ◽  
Annet L. Louwerse ◽  
Jan A. M. Langermans ◽  
Jaco Bakker
Keyword(s):  
Control Method ◽  
Population Control ◽  
Callithrix Jacchus ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Common Marmosets ◽  
Neonatal Deaths ◽  
Unintended Pregnancies ◽  
Colony Management ◽  
Long Acting

Contraception is an important population control method for the colony management of primates housed in captivity. Etonogestrel (ENG) implants (i.e., Implanon®) are a widely used progestin-based contraceptive in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) with the theoretical advantages of being reversible and long-acting. However, no dose and efficacy data are available yet. Therefore, data from 52 adult female marmosets contracepted with ENG (one-fourth or one-third of an implant) housed at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC, Rijswijk, The Netherlands) over the past 18 years were analyzed. Using an electronic database, a retrospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted to calculate the reproductive data before, during and after ENG use. The data show an effectiveness in preventing pregnancy of 99%. The implant was effective within one week after insertion. Unintended pregnancies did occur, but in 60% of these cases, the animals were already pregnant at the time of implant insertion. In these cases, healthy offspring were born despite the use of the implant. No stillbirths, neonatal deaths or maternal deaths could be linked to ENG use. After implant removal, 83% of the animals delivered healthy offspring. No difference in contraception efficacy was observed between the use of one-fourth or one-third of an implant. ENG achieved a contraceptive protection exceeding 99% and was shown to be reversible concerning fertility. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed analysis on the use of ENG in marmosets.

Reconsidering Early Detection in Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) by Local Frontline Professionals

Proceedings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Annemarie van de Weert
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Violent Behavior ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Local Approach ◽  
Performative Power

In recent years, the fight against terrorism and political violence has focused more on anticipating the threats that they pose. Therefore, early detection of ideas by local professionals has become an important part of the preventive approach in countering radicalization. Frontline workers who operate in the arteries of society are encouraged to identify processes towards violent behavior at an early stage. To date, however, little is known about how these professionals take on this screening task at their own discretion. Research from the Netherlands suggests that subjective assessment appears to exist. This is due to the absence of a clear norm for preliminary judgments. However, such an approach affects prejudice or administrative arbitrariness, which may cause side effects due to unjustified profiling. The publications about the Dutch case are inspired by the concept of “performativity”, (de Graaf, B., & de Graaff, B. G. J. (2010). Bringing politics back in: The introduction of the ‘performative power’ of counterterrorism. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 3(2), pp. 261–275.) which points to a distinct relationship between the performative power of counterterrorism instruments and the effectiveness of the local approach. Performativity contends that the overall effect of the policy in question is not necessarily determined by the policy measures and their intended results, as such, but more by the way in which they are presented and perceived. This means that, in order to create an equitable approach, governments, whether local or national, should focus more on the actual practice performed by frontline practitioners. The focus on practices is part of a larger project, entitled ‘Gatekeepers of Justice’ (See: https://www.internationalhu.com/research/access-to-justice), by the Research Group Access2Justice (Research Centre of Social Innovation at Utrecht University of Applied Science), led by professor Quirine Eijkman, Deputy President of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.

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