Condicionamento operante em bugios-ruivos (Alouatta guariba) sob cuidados profissionais no Centro de Pesquisas Biológicas de Indaial – SC (Projeto Bugio/ CEPESBI)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62015/np.2024.v30.835Keywords:
Animal behavior, animal training, animal welfare, experimental psychology, nonhuman primatesAbstract
Operant conditioning with positive reinforcement has been employed as a tool for the management of wild animals, as it enables the performance of routine procedures with voluntary cooperation. The aim of this study was to describe the training process of brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba) at the Projeto Bugio/CEPESBI (Indaial, Santa Catarina state, Brazil), in order to weigh them on a scale without physical restraint or direct contact with the researcher. A total of 23 individuals (13 males and 10 females) participated in the training, which included a four-stage training protocol. In the first stage, food preference was assessed between two items already present in the daily diet: banana with powdered milk or processed kibble. Most subjects (n = 17; 73.91%) preferred the banana, which was adopted as the reinforcer. In the second step, the researcher trained the command “come,” associated with voluntary approach and contact with the target; all howler monkeys performed the expected behavior. In the third step, the researcher trained the command “stay,” requiring the individual to remain in the location indicated by the target. Twenty-one subjects (91.3%) met the success criterion (correct responses in three consecutive repetitions), while the others (n = 2) were excluded from the following stage. In the fourth step, the individual was required to remain on the scale, indicated by the target. Fourteen monkeys successfully completed all training phases. Response latency and the frequency of reinforced and non-reinforced responses were recorded. A progressive reduction in latency was observed during the initial stages, reflecting learning. It is concluded that the proposed methodology was effective for training voluntary weighing in brown howler monkeys, in accordance with animal welfare principles. The importance of individualized approaches, considering behavioral and sensory differences, is further highlighted to maximize conditioning success in primates under professional care.
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