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The importance of animal assisted therapy
The importance of animal assisted therapy
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Thesis Statement: Despite the rampant protests of animal welfare organizations on encaging primates in zoos since primates typically show abnormal behavior, zoos in the National Capital Region claim that human interaction and enrichment programs help alleviate the stress and trauma primates experience.
I. Primates, any placental mammal of the order Primates, normally having flexible hands and feet and, in the higher apes, a highly developed brain (“Primate”, 2016), have been one of the most popular animals and prominent attractions in zoos.
A. Non-human primates are the only animal that imparts a large number of essential cognitive aptitudes with humans.
B. Studies about primate captivity have shown that the zoo environment may affect the
Chimpanzees make tools and use them to procure foods and for social exhibitions; they have refined hunting tactics requiring collaboration, influence and rank; they are status cognizant, calculating and capable of trickery; they can learn to use symbols and understand facets of human language including some interpersonal composition, concepts of number and numerical sequence and they are proficient in spontaneous preparation for a future state or event.
I visited the Sacramento Zoo during the afternoon of April 21, 2017. The weather was wonderful, sunny, warm, and there was a slight breeze. It got a bit more breezy the longer I was there. Visiting the zoo to observe primates allowed me to become a little more aware of how primatologists study primates. Even though I’ve been to many different zoos several different times, I never realized how many primates were associated with the zoos, as well as the variety of primates in the zoos. The Sacramento Zoo has eight different primates, all in different classifications, superfamilies, or subfamilies. While observing the Chimpanzees, White-Handed Gibbon, Mongoose Lemur, White-Faced Saki, and the Wolf’s Guenon I could see the differences
"Primate Social Relationships: Adults and Infants." Primate Social Relationships: Adults and Infants. N.p., Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
I chose to study the behaviors of the Spider monkey and the Sifaka. I chose them for a few reasons, one being that Spider monkeys are incredibly adorable and two Sifaka’s remind me of a childhood television show, Zoboomafoo. These two primate groups also struck my attention in class, so this project was a perfect opportunity to dig a little deeper. The behaviors I chose to observe were social interactions and locomotion. The biggest differences I noticed between the two primates were that the Spider monkeys have the prehensile tails and without exerting extra energy is able to engage in a few common locomotion patterns such as quadrupedal, suspensory and bipedalisim. Where as Sifaka’s lack a tail, and remain upright at all times, and the only way they don’t waste energy moving around is to jump through the trees. They both hangout in troops, eat similar things and mainly live up high in the trees-- but Spider monkeys care for their own young for up to a year while the Sifaka’s usually engage in non-maternal infant care.
There are at least 145 living species of the suborder Anthropoidea . Over 90% of them are monkeys. The remaining species are apes and humans. The anthropoids (members of the suborder Anthropoidea) have been the most successful primates in populating the earth. They are generally larger, more intelligent, and have more highly developed eyes than the prosimians.
Although the practice of collecting animals have been present since 2500 B.C (Dunlap and Kellert), efforts to keep animals in a safe and natural habitat have been poorly consummated. Psychological manipulation has consequentially drawn chimpanzees to mental illness, as in the article “How Abnormal Is the Behavior of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees?” Lucy P. Birkett and Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher wrote, “Many chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) kept in laboratory housing settings show a variety of serious behavioral abnormalities, such as, repetitive rocking, drinking of urine, or self-mutilation.” Social and maternal separation for the benifit of reasearch are linked to psychological traumatic as well (Dunlap and Kellert). Although through history the service of zoos have been for entertainment, it is a trivial reason for holding chimpanzees in confidment. Subsequently, it is inhumane to take primates from the wild and place them in a zoo, commercial, or laboratory setting, which strips them of their ability to act naturally.
All primates have the same sensation and are capable of receiving excessive amounts of information. All senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch are essential to the development, survival, and overall well-being of living primates. It is fascinating how non-human primates, without language, can communicate in the same ways as human primates, with language. Non-human primates and human primates are highly developed mammals that possess many of the same communicative characteristics, but still differ greatly. Non-human primates fit into the category of not having language, but being able to communicate.
Our earliest ancestors are primates. They are our closest relatives which is why we can see our behavior’s and practices in them. If we observe them we can get a better understanding of them and us, human beings. But unfortunately we all don’t get the chance to see a Primate right in our backdoor. So the best thing I could do for my observation was to visit them at the zoo.
Are lemurs considered to be a primate? What is a primate and what does a primate consist of? A primate is known for having hands and feet that are very similar to the look of their hands. They also are known for their forward-facing eyes. Primates are not just lemurs. Primates also include prosimians, monkeys, apes, and even humans. The first primate to be developed was a lemur. The word lemur in latin means ghost because lemurs are a nocturnal animal. A Lemur is also an arboreal primate, which meaning that they live in all kinds of trees. All breeds of lemurs have a slightly long pointed snout and typically have a long tail. Lemurs have been around for nearly over 2,000 years (Garbutt 10). This was when they first stepped foot on the islands. Although there are many breeds of lemurs and more still being discovered, they are mostly all found and living in one particular island, and have different characteristics and behaviors than some other animals, they are still considered to be a primate because of their wonderful amazing features.
... the gorillas are taken away from their family and are living in captivity. It is still important to study primates in-depth, and a solution to the ethical issues may be to breed primates within the conservatory.
... al., eds (2009) (PDF). Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates 2008–2010. Illustrated by S.D. Nash. Arlington, VA.: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), and Conservation International (CI). pp. 1–92. ISBN 978-1-934151-34-1.
Non human primates’ social organization can provide useful information how human social evolution occurs. We will go over main points of how similar and different non human primates such as chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas’ society are compared to ours, humans.
Apes have over and over again surpassed other primates in comprehension tests carried out in the laboratory. They are capable of reacting to stimuli in an appropriate manner. Researchers have measured intelligence in primates in a number of situations in an effort to determine the level of cognition these primates possess. Russon and Begun, researchers who have explored ape intelligence state, “In the physical domain, great apes do use tools in ways that require their grade of cognition but they devise equally complex manual techniques and solve equally complex spatial problems” (Russon and Begun 2004). Apes have the abilit...
Animals not only experience cruelty from their caretakers, but from visitors as well. As a result of this, the abuse can cause psychological damage and varies from the animals being teased, yelled at and having objects thrown at them (OccupyTheory, 2015, List of Cons of Zoos, para. 4). Animals that are restricted to zoo living arrangements show a great deal of abnormal behaviors as well as mental health issues. For example, animals in captivity easily become lonely and bored when deprived of their natural necessities. Due to stressful living situations, many animals begin to show signs of a psychological condition known as zoochosis, a repetitive and multiple obsessive behavior (Netivist 2016, Cons of Zoos, para. 2). Some symptoms of repetitive and obsessive behaviors that have are common include, but not limited to self-mutilation, pacing up and down or rocking back and forth (Isacat, 2015, Chapter.8). According to the database on the animal advocacy organization, Born Free USA website (http://www.bornfreeusa.org/reports/exoincidents.php) there is over 1300 recorded incidents of "deadly and dangerous captive wild animal incidents" that have occurred since 1990 (ResearchBuzz, 2010). One of the most recent incidents involved Harambe, a western lowland gorilla that lived in the Cincinnati Zoo. Animal psychological and former head of Zoo Atlanta, Terry Maple stated, "Its difficult to say whether
Other than big cats, primates from lemurs, monkeys, chimpanzees to baboons are one of a variety of primate species that are also kept as exotic pets and can be very challenging to handle. You can say that they are cute and "child-like", but they are not a substitute for human babies. Sure their owners treat them like babies...