Special Issue "Advances in Chimpanzee Welfare"
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2022.
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to let you know that the open-access peer-reviewed journal Animals is developing a Special Issue titled “Advances in Chimpanzee Welfare”, and I am serving as the Guest Editor. I am pleased to invite you to submit an article on this topic.
I am interested in receiving manuscripts that provide strong empirical data to address topics relevant to any of the many issues associated with the well-being of individual chimpanzees, as well as the welfare of larger populations. The Special Issue will feature research that investigates, evaluates, helps to understand, and promotes the welfare of chimpanzees.
Under the rubric of chimpanzee welfare, the focus will be broad. Manuscripts will be considered that address welfare issues for chimpanzees living in sanctuaries, zoos, research facilities, and the wild. Scientific papers should report data based on robust methods, and empirically based literature reviews will also be considered. Studies could include measures of behavior, health, cognition, affect, reproduction, temperament, and physiology, as long as the focus is on animal welfare. Contemporary topics such as evaluating welfare in sanctuaries, the use of technology to improve welfare, the transfer of chimpanzees between facilities, fission/fusion management systems, the resocialization of chimpanzees with atypical social backgrounds, and individual differences in welfare-related needs are especially welcome.
I foresee that this volume will compile the most current and important appraisals of chimpanzee welfare, and will propel forward the field of welfare science with regard to this engaging species. I hope that the opportunity of submitting a manuscript to this Special Issue will be of interest to you. Please let me know if you would like to discuss potential contributions. Manuscript topics (abstracts) will be assessed for suitability by November 2021, and the manuscript submission deadline will be March 2022.
Dr. Mollie A. Bloomsmith
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- animal behavior
- animal care
- behavioral management
- great apes
- Pan troglodytes
- psychological well-being
- refinements
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: The invisible cage phenomenon: long-term spatial restriction generates deferred limited space use in a zoo-housed chimpanzee group
Authors: Luke Mangaliso Duncan
Affiliation: Chiara D’Egidio & Neville Pillay
Abstract: Abstract: Adequate and appropriate space is considered paramount for good animal welfare in captivity. There has been a concerted effort on the part of captive institutions, particularly zoos, to provide captive animals with relatively large, naturalistic enclosures which has demonstrated welfare benefits for captive animals. However, post-occupancy assessments of these enclosures tend to focus on short-term welfare-centred behavioural effects and seldom consider space-use. We examined the space use of a group of eight captive chimpanzees 5 years after the large-scale modification of their enclosure at the Johannesburg Zoo, South Africa. Instantaneous scan sampling was used to record behavior and location of each individual chimpanzee at 5min intervals in the new enclosure. From these 6.8hrs of data, subgroup (two or more chimpanzees within 10m of each other) spacing was considered relative to the location and size of the previous smaller housing they experienced. Space use was heterogeneous and 97.5% of subgroups restricted their spacing to the dimensions of the previous housing (10m x 10m). This pattern was not explained by individual behaviour, time of day, location, available space, weather, temperature or shade availability, inter-individual spacing or subgroup composition. We discuss these findings in relation to spatial cognition, learning and the implications for both animal welfare and endangered species conservation.
Title: Using the Behavior of Wild Chimpanzees to Inform Captive Chimpanzee Care with a Focus on Feeding and Foraging.
Authors: Gerstner, K.; Pruetz, J.D.
Affiliation: Texas State University, San Marcos, United States
Abstract: Captive animal managers frequently look to the behavior of wild conspecifics to set guidelines
and standards for primates in their care. Here, we summarize the behavior of wild chimpanzees
living at various sites to provide a range and guiding average regarding specifics especially relevant
to caring for captive chimpanzees. These include aspects of diet, activity and social behavior
that have been and continue to be used in evaluating the behavior of captive apes.
WILD CHIMPANZEE WELFARE
In this paper, we will discuss previous scientific literature that assesses wild chimpanzee welfare,
or their basic physical health and well-being. Quite recently, studies on captive chimpanzee
welfare topics have increased, while research on wild welfare studies is not nearly as common,
and a summary highlighting current literature in this field, to our knowledge, has yet to be
done. A fresh, in depth discussion on wild chimpanzee welfare issues is of great importance to
conservation projects and particularly wild and captive chimpanzee sanctuaries because such
conversation may reveal if specific or general welfare protocols are (a) working positively or
negatively towards an individual's welfare and (b) how wild chimpanzee welfare can guide the
welfare of captive chimpanzees.