An Investigation into the Influence of Different Types of Nesting Materials upon the Welfare of Captive Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Presently, it is vital that captive chimpanzee populations are kept physically and mentally healthy, considering the number of individuals remaining in the wild continues to decrease. As such, we carried out this study to further understand how different types of nesting materials impact upon the welfare of captive chimpanzees living at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (Sierra Leone). These nesting materials, including leaves and branches, long grass, cotton sheets, and shredded newspaper, served as a form of environmental enrichment—a strategy that is often adopted to enhance animals’ welfare. We found that the chimpanzees’ welfare was higher when nesting materials were present, compared to when they were absent, and that individuals favoured shredded newspaper. Our results reinforce the importance of supplying enrichments that are destructible, as these give individuals an increased sense of control, and simultaneously demonstrate that synthetic enrichment materials can be favoured over natural ones. ABSTRACT: Ensuring the welfare of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) is crucial, in part because they can act as a conservation resource in the case of wild populations becoming extinct. One strategy often adopted to ensure animal welfare is environmental enrichment. In this study, we investigated the impact of different nesting materials (leaves and branches, long grass, cotton sheets, and shredded newspaper) upon the welfare of chimpanzees housed at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (Sierra Leone). Data was collected on 20 subjects (aged 4 to 15 years) between November 2019 and March 2020. Welfare was based on individuals’ relative frequency of affiliative, abnormal and agonistic behaviours, as well as their social and behavioural competence. We found that individuals’ welfare was higher when presented with nesting materials (compared to the control and post-treatment conditions), particularly when given shredded newspaper, regardless of whether the material was presented separately or in conjunction with another. In addition, welfare was highest: during the morning (vs evening); in groups of older individuals (vs younger); with females engaging in less agonistic behaviours compared to males; and males displaying relatively higher behavioural competence. Our results support previous research that captive chimpanzees be supplied with destructible nesting materials, and demonstrate that synthetic enrichments can indeed have a more positive impact upon welfare than their natural alternatives.