Managementstrategies and Animalwelfare of Captive Capuchin Monkeys Genus Erxleben 1777 ( )

2 Abstract: Handling can compromise the quality of life of wild animals in captivity.Welfareincaptive animals canbe assessed through recording of abnormal behaviors. The relationship betweentwomanagement strategies and animal welfare (measured as frequency of abnormal behaviors) for5 Cebus monkeys of three species (4 males and 1 female) captive at a biological station in ElisioMedrado, Bahia, Brazil is analyzed. This is relevant because capuchin monkeys areveryabundant in captivity worldwide and different species are often housed togetherdue to taxonomic uncertainties. Also, many zoos lack an animal welfare program and simple management practices might help welfare improvement.Stereotyped behaviors werequantified undertwo management strategies: a) daily-movement and b) social-housing. Furthermore, an environmental enrichment was added under the social-housing strategy to test its effect on abnormal behaviors.Frequencies were compared through a Wilcoxon test, which did not show statistical differences intotalabnormal behaviors between different management strategies. However, there was a tendency towards improvement in social behaviors following the social-housingstrategy.Food enrichmentwas useful to diminish stereotyped behaviors, but represented a source of stress for the most subordinate animals. Betterenclosure quality is not enough to promote animal well being, but environmental enrichments are good alternatives for reducing stress in non subordinates.