Artificial induction method for recovering natural feeding behavior of captive chimpanzee

Abstract

The invention discloses an artificial induction method for recovering natural feeding behavior of captive chimpanzee. The method comprises the following steps: installing video playing equipment in a female chimpanzee animal house; after it is determined that the female chimpanzee enters the gestation period, playing a same-category animal childhood raising video through video playing equipment, putting same-category animal childhood image toys into the animal house, and inducing the gestation period female chimpanzee to learn animal childhood raising behaviors. The method further comprises a step of judging whether to intervene behavior training by observing the response of female chimpanzee to videos and toys, and a step of observing the behaviors of female animals after production to judge whether human intervention is needed. The captive chimpanzee is effectively induced to learn self-feeding and take care of offspring skills by utilizing the video playing equipment and the young animal image toy, so that the purpose of recovering natural feeding behaviors of the captive chimpanzee is achieved, finally, the physique of newborn young animals is improved, passage of community behaviors in a population is ensured, and feeding and breeding of the chimpanzee are facilitated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of chimpanzee breeding and reproduction, and in particular to an artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees. Background Art

[0002] Chimpanzees (scientific name: Pan trogl odytes) are primates of the genus Pan trogl odytes, endangered species according to the World Conservation Union, and protected as Class I animals under the Washington Convention. As a genus of primates in the family Hominidae, chimpanzees have extremely similar physiological structures and behavioral performances to humans. Studies have shown that chimpanzee groups in the wild are social and cultural, and chimpanzee individuals in the group have the ability to learn from each other. In the process of growing up, chimpanzee individuals not only learn the use of tools from other older individuals, but also spread their reproduction and breastfeeding downward in the population in the form of learning. In addition, female individuals who have not reached breeding age or have not experienced breeding will imitate the breastfeeding process of other female chimpanzees with other small mammals or substitutes such as branches and sticks. However, under captive conditions, if there are no individuals with reproductive experience in the population, the downward transmission of the behavior of feeding offspring will be interrupted, so artificial child rearing has become an important means to continue the captive chimpanzee population. In addition, chimpanzee babies raised in captivity will lack more natural behaviors due to long periods of time away from the group and human contact, which will lead to new problems when the chimpanzees return to the population.

[0003] In order to avoid the drawbacks of artificial raising of young, a transmission mechanism is established in captive populations without relevant experience, so that the young can grow naturally in the population and learn various behaviors of their peers. The present invention creates an artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees, so that the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees can be restored through artificial induction method, so that they can gradually learn the skills of self-feeding and caring for offspring, thereby improving the physical fitness of newborn young and ensuring the transmission of social behavior in the population. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees, so that the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees can be restored through the artificial induction method, so that they can gradually learn the skills of self-nurturing and caring for offspring, thereby improving the physical fitness of newborn cubs and ensuring the transmission of social behavior in the population.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides an artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees, the method comprising: installing a video playback device in the animal house of a female chimpanzee; after determining that the female chimpanzee has entered the pregnancy period, playing a video of the same type of animal raising its young through the video playback device, and placing image toys of the same type of animal babies into the animal house, so as to induce the pregnant female chimpanzee to learn the animal raising behavior.

[0006] Further improvements include: judging whether to intervene in behavioral training by observing the female chimpanzee's reaction to the video and the toy; if the female chimpanzee watches the video during the video playback and imitates and cares for the baby animal image toy, it indicates that the female chimpanzee does not need to intervene in behavioral training; if the female chimpanzee does not watch the video during the video playback, or does not imitate and care for the baby animal image toy, it indicates that the female chimpanzee needs to intervene in behavioral training;

[0007] The intervention behavior training includes animal positioning, attention guidance and image toy holding training.

[0008] As a further improvement, the frequency of the intervention behavior training is 4 times a day, 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the afternoon, each time for 15-20 minutes, with an interval of 1 hour between each interaction, and the person conducting the intervention behavior training is the main person in charge of daily feeding.

[0009] As a further improvement, the video of animals of the same category raising babies is a video of chimpanzees or other primates holding or nursing their babies, the background sound is the original sound of the animals or natural, soft background music, the video is played during the day, and the video content is played in a loop.

[0010] Further improvements also include: observing the behavior of the mother animal after giving birth to determine whether human intervention is needed. If the mother animal learns the behavior of naturally feeding the cubs, the breeding environment can be controlled. If the mother animal cannot feed the cubs naturally, human behavioral training and instrumental desensitization are implemented, while the cubs are provided with nutritional supplements and human guidance.

[0011] For further improvement, if the mother animal learns the behavior of naturally feeding the cubs, the steps to control the breeding environment include: cleaning and disinfecting the animal house environment, installing monitoring equipment or having a highly trusted fixed person feed the cubs;

[0012] If the mother animal cannot feed the cubs naturally, the steps of artificial intervention behavior training and instrument desensitization include: desensitization training with syringes and catheters while the mother animal is with the cubs; and the steps of nutritional supplementation and artificial guidance for the cubs include: mixing 0.9% saline and 5% glucose solution in a 1:1 ratio as an oral nutritional supplement; and using bovine colostrum or first stage infant milk powder as a behavioral guide for the cubs for artificial guidance.

[0013] Further improvements also include: a step of evaluating the mother's nursing behavior, specifically: judging the effectiveness of the animal's natural nursing behavior by observing the mother's breastfeeding frequency, and controlling the breeding environment for the mothers who have acquired natural nursing behavior; for mothers who still cannot naturally breastfeed their cubs, the cubs are removed for artificial rearing, and the cubs cannot be without breast milk for more than 72 hours.

[0014] Further improvements also include: postpartum care and psychological comfort for the mother animals whose cubs are taken out. Postpartum care is to feed the mother animals with brown sugar water once in the morning and afternoon each day, and to increase the proportion of protein in the feed. Psychological comfort is to put in cub-shaped toys when the cubs are taken away.

[0015] Further improvements include feeding methods for captive chimpanzee mothers during the perinatal period, including:

[0016] The proportion of the feed structure of the female after giving birth is: 50% fruit, 47% vegetables, and 3% protein;

[0017] Vitamin supplements for postpartum mothers are: 1 tablet of Centrum tablets per day;

[0018] Calcium supplementation for postpartum mothers: 1 tablet of Caltrate D per day;

[0019] Protein intake of lactating mothers: add 200ml of standard milk per day;

[0020] Addition of probiotics during lactation period: feed 1g of Mami Love daily, and 100g of yogurt in the morning and afternoon;

[0021] Also included are feeding practices for captive chimpanzees, including:

[0022] After the cubs are 6 months old, the total amount of feed for the dam and cubs is increased to 150% of the original dam feeding amount;

[0023] From the time the cubs start to actively grasp the feed, mix Mommy Love into the daily feed and feed it every time.

[0024] A further improvement is that before playing the video of the same category of animals raising their young, the step of conducting an animal growth history survey on captive female chimpanzees is included to determine whether the target chimpanzee needs to be intervened by the artificial induction method. If the target chimpanzee has experience in successfully feeding its own young during the growth process, or has seen or assisted other individuals in the group in raising young during the growth process, then the artificial induction method does not need to be intervened. Otherwise, the artificial induction method is intervened.

[0025] After adopting such a design, the present invention has at least the following advantages:

[0026] The present invention uses a video player to play videos of animals of the same category raising their young and provides toys with the image of young animals as an aid, so as to effectively induce captive chimpanzees to learn, so that they gradually learn the skills of self-feeding and caring for their offspring, thereby achieving the purpose of restoring the natural feeding behavior of captive chimpanzees through artificial induction methods, ultimately improving the physical fitness of newborn young animals, ensuring the transmission of social behavior in the population, and facilitating the feeding and reproduction of chimpanzees. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The above is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present invention, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0028] Figure 1 The present invention is a schematic diagram of the process structure of the artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided in order to enable a more thorough understanding of the present invention and to enable the scope of the present invention to be fully communicated to those skilled in the art.

[0030] See attached Figure 1 As shown, the method of artificially inducing and restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0031] (1) Animal growth history survey: Determine whether the target animal (pregnant female chimpanzee) requires artificial induction intervention

[0032] The basis for judgment is whether the target animal has the experience of successfully raising its own cubs during its growth or has seen or assisted other individuals in raising their cubs. If none of the above conditions is met, it is judged that artificial induction is required.

[0033] (2) Cultivating trust between humans and animals: Strengthening the emotional relationship between the target animal receiving induction and the behavior inducer

[0034] Specifically, the trainers strengthen the emotional communication with the target animals involved in breeding through interactive projects such as feeding, positioning training, picking up objects training, action imitation training, hair combing, nail trimming, etc. in their daily work. Conduct induction training 4 times a day, 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the afternoon, each time for 15-20 minutes, and each interaction interval is 1 hour.

[0035] (3) Behavioral induction during pregnancy in captive chimpanzees

[0036] Install video playback equipment in the enclosures of target animals;

[0037] After the target animal is determined to have entered the pregnancy period, the target animal is taught to learn parenting behaviors by playing videos of animals of the same category raising their babies and giving them toys with images of baby animals of the same species. The video content is a video of chimpanzees or other primates holding or nursing their babies, and the background sound is the original sound of the animals. If there is no original sound of the animals, more natural and soft music can be edited as background sound to attract the attention of the animals. The broadcast time is 8:00-17:00 every day, and the content is played in a loop. The size of the baby animal toy should be comparable to that of a newborn baby, and the image should be a chimpanzee toy of the same species. Toys given to animals should not be recycled to avoid causing negative emotions in the animals.

[0038] Then, the mother's reaction to the video and toys is observed to determine whether to intervene in behavioral training.

[0039] The judgment basis is: whether the mother animal watches the video during the video playback and whether the mother animal imitates and cares for the baby animal image toys in the daily life, including: holding behavior, combing hair behavior, etc.

[0040] If the mother animal does not have the above situation, it is judged that behavioral training is needed. The intervention behavior training includes animal positioning, attention guidance and image toy holding training. The training frequency is 4 times a day, 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the afternoon, each time for 15-20 minutes, and each interaction interval is 1 hour.

[0041] If the mother animal is observed to have the above situation, it is judged that there is no need to intervene in behavioral training, and enrichment such as videos and toys will continue, while the mother animal's behavior will continue to be observed.

[0042] (4) Postpartum human intervention in target animals

[0043] After the target animal gives birth, observe the mother's behavior to see whether the mother holds the cub in the correct posture and whether the mother breastfeeds the cub.

[0044] If the above situation occurs, it is judged that the mother animal has learned natural nursing behavior and no human intervention is required. It is sufficient to control the feeding environment of the mother animal's delivery room. Feeding environment control includes: cleaning and disinfecting the animal house environment, reducing the number of human contacts by installing monitoring equipment, and reducing stimulation to the animals by fixed personnel feeding. Animal house disinfection needs to be carried out regularly to ensure the environmental hygiene of mother animals and cubs. The disinfection frequency is once a week, and the type of disinfectant is changed every two times, and the two disinfectants are used alternately.

[0045] If none of the above conditions are present, it is determined that the mother animal has not learned natural nursing behavior and requires human intervention. Behavioral training and instrument desensitization are performed on mother animals that cannot naturally nurse, and nutritional supplements and human guidance are provided to cubs.

[0046] Specifically, behavioral training and instrument desensitization mainly involve desensitization training for syringes and catheters when the mother is carrying her cub. During the training process, the mother's reaction is closely observed, and the mother is first accustomed to the presence of the instrument, and then the instrument is gradually used to contact the mother's body. After the mother has adapted, the distance between the instrument and the cub is gradually shortened until the mother does not avoid or resist when the instrument touches the cub's mouth.

[0047] Provide nutritional supplements and artificial guidance for the young animals. The nutritional supplement method is: 0.9% saline and 5% glucose solution are mixed in a 1:1 ratio for oral rehydration. The artificial guidance method is: colostrum or infant formula powder is prepared according to the instructions as a behavioral guide for young animals for artificial guidance. When rehydrating and artificially inducing young animals, a small amount of rehydration agent can be fed to the mother animal with an instrument to avoid the mother animal's resistance to the rehydration behavior. When guiding the young animals with a guide agent, first drip a small amount of the guide agent to the young animal. When the young animal is observed to have active sucking movements, the guide agent is dripped from the vicinity of the young animal's mouth to the mother animal's nipple one by one on the mother animal's body to form a guide mark, so that the young animal can crawl to the mother animal's nipple as much as possible. If the mother animal wipes, stop the mother animal's behavior and guide it again after the mother animal stabilizes.

[0048] Through the training of mothers and the artificial guidance of cubs, the breeding environment of mothers who have learned natural nursing behaviors is controlled, including: cleaning and disinfecting the animal house environment, reducing the number of human contacts by installing monitoring equipment, and reducing stimulation to the animals by fixed personnel feeding; chimpanzee cubs that have repeatedly been induced but still cannot achieve natural nursing need to be taken out for artificial raising.

[0049] (5) Evaluation of the feeding behavior of target animals

[0050] For mother animals that still cannot breastfeed after repeated guidance, the cubs should be removed for artificial rearing, and the mother animals should receive postpartum care and psychological comfort to lay the foundation for the next artificial induction.

[0051] The conditions for removing the cubs are: on the premise that the cubs have successfully received nutritional supplements, repeated human guidance work should be based on the physical fitness of the cubs and should not exceed 72 hours.

[0052] After the cubs are taken away, the mother should be given cub-shaped toys as psychological comfort. At the same time, nutritional supplements should be provided to the postpartum mother: brown sugar water is fed once in the morning and afternoon each day, and the proportion of protein feed is increased in the feed. After observing the recovery of the physiological cycle of the mother, prepare for the next artificial induction work.

[0053] (6) Feeding of target animals in the post-perinatal period

[0054] Nutritional supplementation during the perinatal period for captive chimpanzees that have acquired natural lactation includes:

[0055] The weight proportion of the feed structure for postpartum sows is: 50% fruits, 47% vegetables, and 3% protein.

[0056] Vitamin supplement for postpartum mothers is: 1 tablet of Centrum per day.

[0057] Calcium supplement for postpartum mothers is: 1 tablet of Caltrate D per day.

[0058] The protein intake of female animals during lactation is: increase 200 ml of standard milk per day.

[0059] The addition of probiotics to lactating mothers is as follows: feed 1 gram of Mommy Love daily, and 100 grams of yogurt in the morning and afternoon.

[0060] (7) Feeding of captive chimpanzee infants

[0061] Nutritional conditioning of chimpanzee infants, including:

[0062] The cubs are breastfed by their mothers for the first 6 months. During this period, pay attention to the frequency and duration of breastfeeding by the mothers.

[0063] After the pups are 6 months old, the total amount of dam and infant feed is increased to 150% of the original dam feed.

[0064] As soon as the cubs start to actively grasp the feed, mix 1 gram of Mommy Love into the daily feed each time you feed it.

[0065] Through the above steps, captive chimpanzees can be successfully induced to learn the skills of self-feeding and caring for their offspring, and the natural feeding behavior of captive chimpanzees can be gradually restored, providing a favorable method to ensure the transmission of social behavior in the population and facilitating the feeding reproduction of chimpanzees.

[0066] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Those skilled in the art may make some simple modifications, equivalent changes or modifications using the technical contents disclosed above, which all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An artificial induction method for restoring natural nursing behavior in captive chimpanzees, characterized in that: The method comprises: Installing video playback equipment in the female chimpanzee enclosures; After determining that the female chimpanzee has entered the pregnancy period, videos of similar animals raising their young are played through video playback equipment, and toys with the image of baby animals of the same category are placed in the animal house to induce the pregnant female chimpanzee to learn animal raising behavior.

2. The artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: The step of judging whether to intervene in behavioral training is to observe the female chimpanzee's reaction to the video and the toy. If the female chimpanzee watches the video during the video playback and imitates and cares for the baby animal image toy, it indicates that the female chimpanzee does not need to intervene in behavioral training; if the female chimpanzee does not watch the video during the video playback, or does not imitate and care for the baby animal image toy, it indicates that the female chimpanzee needs to intervene in behavioral training; The intervention behavior training includes animal positioning, attention guidance and image toy holding training.

3. The artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 2, characterized in that: The frequency of the intervention behavior training is 4 times a day, 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the afternoon, each time for 15-20 minutes, with an interval of 1 hour between each interaction, and the person involved in the intervention behavior training is the main person in charge of daily feeding.

4. The artificial induction method for restoring natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 1, characterized in that: The animal raising videos of the same category are videos of chimpanzees or other primates holding or nursing their babies. The background sounds are the original sounds of the animals or natural, soft background music. The videos are played during the day and the video content is played in a loop.

5. The artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: The behavior of the mother animal after giving birth is observed to determine whether human intervention is needed. If the mother animal learns to naturally feed her cubs, the breeding environment can be controlled. If the mother animal cannot naturally feed her cubs, human behavioral training and instrumental desensitization are performed, and the cubs are provided with nutritional supplements and human guidance.

6. The artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 5, characterized in that: If the mother animal learns to naturally feed her cubs, the steps to control the breeding environment include: cleaning and disinfecting the animal house, installing monitoring equipment, or having a trusted fixed person feed the cubs; If the mother animal cannot feed the cubs naturally, the steps of artificial intervention behavior training and instrument desensitization include: desensitization training with syringes and catheters while the mother animal is with the cubs; and the steps of nutritional supplementation and artificial guidance for the cubs include: mixing 0.9% saline and 5% glucose solution in a 1:1 ratio as an oral nutritional supplement; and using bovine colostrum or first stage infant milk powder as a behavioral guide for the cubs for artificial guidance.

7. The artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 6, characterized in that: Also includes: The steps for evaluating the nursing behavior of mothers are as follows: judging the effectiveness of the animals' natural nursing behavior by observing the frequency of their breastfeeding, and controlling the breeding environment for mothers who have acquired natural nursing behavior; for mothers who still cannot naturally breastfeed their cubs, the cubs are removed for artificial rearing, and the time that the cubs do not eat breast milk cannot exceed 72 hours.

8. The method for artificially inducing restoration of natural nursing behavior in captive chimpanzees according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: Postpartum care and psychological comfort are provided to the mother animals whose cubs are removed. Postpartum care includes feeding the mother animals with brown sugar water once in the morning and afternoon each day, and increasing the proportion of protein feed in the feed. Psychological comfort includes putting cub-image toys in the mother animals when the cubs are removed.

9. The artificial induction method for restoring natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to claim 8, characterized in that: It also covers feeding methods for captive chimpanzee mothers during the perinatal period, including: The proportion of the feed structure of the female after giving birth is: 50% fruit, 47% vegetables, and 3% protein; Vitamin supplements for postpartum mothers are: 1 tablet of Centrum tablets per day; Calcium supplementation for postpartum mothers: 1 tablet of Caltrate D per day; Protein intake of lactating mothers: add 200ml of standard milk per day; Addition of probiotics during lactation period: feed 1g of Mami Love daily, and 100g of yogurt in the morning and afternoon; Also included are feeding practices for captive chimpanzees, including: After the cubs are 6 months old, the total amount of feed for the dam and cubs is increased to 150% of the original dam feeding amount; From the time the cubs start to actively grasp the feed, mix Mommy Love into the daily feed and feed it every time.

10. The artificial induction method for restoring the natural nursing behavior of captive chimpanzees according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: Before playing the video of animals of the same category raising their young, the method also includes the step of investigating the growth history of captive female chimpanzees to determine whether the target chimpanzee needs to be intervened by the artificial induction method. If the target chimpanzee has the experience of successfully feeding its own young during its growth process, or has seen or assisted other individuals in the group in raising young during its growth process, then the artificial induction method does not need to be intervened. Otherwise, the artificial induction method will be intervened.

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