Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Enclosure Type On Aggressive Behavior In Captive Chimpanzees, Erica Renee Findley

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Male chimpanzees are known to be aggressively territorial in the wild. It is expected that the limited enclosures of captivity would make them even more aggressive. The Kansas City Zoo was chosen as an ideal venue to explore this assumption because it boasts the largest outdoor enclosure of its kind, and the apes alternate between this and much smaller indoor housing. Quantitative data on crowd size, time of day, temperature, and frequency/intensity/duration of aggressive behaviors were recorded for the alpha male in both enclosures during 300 hours of observation. These data were used to test the following hypotheses: as measured …