Evaluation of the influence of environmental enrichment on behavioral variables of white fronted marmoset (Callithrix geoffroyi) in captive

• Grant number: 10/20641-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2011
• End date: April 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Animal Behavior
• Principal Investigator: Cristiane Schilbach Pizzutto
• Grantee: Juliana do Carmo Padilha
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Throughout the full extension of the Atlantic Forest six species of Genus Callithrix can be found, and the white fronted marmoset, Callithrix geoffroyi, is the last species of the genus to be studied. The risk of the threat of extinction and the possibility of obtaining relevant information are determinant factors for the design of this project. This study will allow for a detailed investigation of the behavioral aspects of the white fronted marmoset (Callithrix geoffroyi) kept in captivity. Furthermore, it will enable the evaluation of the environmental enrichment techniques. To achieve these objectives, we propose to study six animals, a dominant couple, a juvenile couple and two male puppies of white fronted marmoset (Callithrix geoffroyi) kept in captivity at the Municipal Zoo in Piracicaba, São Paulo. All animals will have their behaviors recorded by focal sampling method with time interval of 30 seconds in sessions of 30 minutes, totaling 20 hours for each animal, which will be distributed in baseline phases and environmental enrichment. The goal of this study is to evaluate the behavioral profile of the species, identify occurrences of abnormal behavior and evaluate the possible influence of the introduction of environmental enrichment techniques on the behavior of these animals (AU)