Chimpanzees used as pets and in the entertainment industry endure detrimental living conditions from early infancy onwards. The preferred option for ending their existence as pet or circus chimpanzees is their rescue and transfer to a primate sanctuary that will provide them with optimal living and social conditions, so that they can thrive. In this case study, we had the rare opportunity to compare the activity budgets of three chimpanzees from their time as pets in 2004 to their time living at the MONA sanctuary in 2020, after almost a decade in the centre. We found their behaviour patterns changed in accordance with the sanctuaries’ rehabilitation objectives. Resting periods increased considerably while vigilance simultaneously declined sharply. Moreover, the chimpanzees’ social competence increased as allogrooming became the predominant social behaviour, and agonistic interactions diminished even though they were living within a larger social group at the sanctuary. All three chimpanzees expanded their allogrooming and proximity networks at the sanctuary, which included new group members, but they maintained the closest relationships to those conspecifics who they were rescued with. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the sanctuary environment and social group setting made it possible for these three chimpanzees to improve their social competence and increase their well-being over time.

Chimpanzee’s nocturnal sleep is a dynamic and complex process, still not fully understood. As in humans, not getting enough quality sleep due to frequent or lasting disruptions may affect their physical and mental health, hence wellbeing, which may be reflected in their daytime behavior. This study aims to understand the impact of abiotic factors, such as temperature and humidity on the nocturnal activity as well as the impact of nocturnal awakening events on daytime behavior in sanctuary-housed chimpanzees. We monitored noisy nocturnal activity through audio recordings for one year, documenting the number and duration of sound events produced by chimpanzees to indicate sleep fragmentation and disruption intensity, respectively. Our results indicate that indoor temperature and humidity indeed influence the chimpanzee’s nocturnal activity. Furthermore, sleep fragmentation and intensity of nocturnal events significantly influenced the following day’s behavior. After nights marked by frequent and/or intense sleep disruptions, higher levels of inactivity, and abnormal and self-directed behaviors were observed, and chimpanzees spent more time on affiliative interactions and in social proximity. These findings highlight the importance of controlling factors influencing nocturnal sleep quality. Furthermore, we demonstrated that economic audio recordings used to monitor nocturnal activity, provide insights into the chimpanzee’s behavior and wellbeing.

Primate sanctuaries provide a solution for the increasing number of primates being taken from their home countries to support the demands of the illegal pet trade. To help end the primate trade and raise awareness about the risks this trade poses to delicate ecosystems, sanctuaries are increasingly developing conservation education programs. Education and raising awareness must be one of the primary roles of primate sanctuaries. However, there are few evaluations of the impacts of conservation education programs for school children published in scientific literature. To address this gap, we conducted an evaluation of educator-led visits of school children at Fundació Mona, a primate sanctuary located in Catalunya, Spain. Questionnaires for an experimental and control group were conducted with 3,205 school children, ages 8 to 18 from 83 different schools, to evaluate changes in their attitudes and knowledge of primate welfare and conservation. We found that Fundació Mona’s program of environmental activities had a positive impact on children, both female and male students, in terms of attitudes and knowledge of primate welfare and conservation. Although female students gave better responses regarding welfare and conservation, all children showed gains in pro-conservation responses. This study demonstrates that environmental education activities focused on children can help shape a change in knowledge and attitudes toward primate welfare and conservation. Educator-led visits of school children to primate sanctuaries such as Fundació Mona can also serve to amplify biodiversity conservation messages among children and their families. We encourage primate sanctuaries to promote empirical studies of attitudes and knowledge of primate welfare and conservation and to conduct systematical evaluations to strengthen their educational activities.

Captive housed non-human primates, specifically great apes such as chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are frequently reported to have died from or are diagnosed with potentially fatal heart conditions that require the monitoring of physiological signals such as electrocardiogram (ECG) or respiratory rate. ECG screening must be conducted after applying full anaesthesia, causing potential physical and emotional stress as well as risk for the animal. Here, we present an electronic system that simultaneously measures the ECG and the electrical bioimpedance for the early detection of abnormal cardiovascular activity. Modified gloves whose fingers are equipped with electrodes enable the caregiver to obtain three cardiovascular signals (ECG, pulse rate and respiratory rate) by placing the fingertips on specific parts of the non-human primate without needing any prior physical preparations. Validation (ECG and bioimpedance) was performed both on humans and on captive housed chimpanzees, where all the signals of interest were correctly acquired.