A new system to improve the quality of life for great apes in zoos has been created at UQ.
The system scores zoos out of 100 percent based on the quality of its physical and social environment of its enclosures for chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos (pygmy chimps).
School of Animal Studies PhD student Amanda Fernie, who created the system called the Great Ape Husbandry Index, said it was designed to pinpoint where zoos needed improvement.
Miss Fernie’s research shows that 35 percent of all great apes kept internationally display abnormal behaviours.
She said she hoped the index would be adopted by the zoo industry’s peak body, the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) and later rolled out internationally.
“The Great Ape Husbandry Index can be incorporated into the accreditation process or guidelines of zoological associations to ensure zoos are providing appropriate levels of husbandry for their captive great apes,” Miss Fernie said.
“The Great Ape Husbandry Index could also be used as a model to create indices for other species held in captivity and would allow zoos to compare their husbandry practices with other institutions around the world.”
The index consists of 17 ranked factors which were based on the opinions of 359 zoo experts around the world which Miss Fernie surveyed online in 2005.
The top three factors for keeping healthy great apes are:
• Appropriate social groupings
• Enclosure appearance (bland, natural or artificial)
• Group size – number of individuals
Miss Fernie has observed apes at Melbourne and Rockhampton zoos and will also visit Taronga in Sydney and the Perth zoo this week and New Zealand zoos next year.
All zoos are accredited to minimum standards via ARAZPA but she said the index raised the bar.
Miss Fernie is studying full-time on an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship.
MEDIA: Miss Fernie (0438 337 643, a.fernie@uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland (07 3365 2619)
