Primates: Provide cut branches (browse)

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

70%
Certainty

50%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Many primate species are leaf eaters which spend significant amounts of time browsing in the wild. In captivity, pellet and produce-based diets are supplemented with cut branches from trees and shrubs referred to as browse. Browse is an important dietary component but also aims to increase time spent feeding and promote natural foraging behaviours.

Study locations

Key messages

One replicated, before-and-after study in the Netherlands and Germany found that when presented with stinging nettles captive gorillas used the same processing skills as wild gorillas to forage.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated, before-and-after study in 2006 at three zoos in the Netherlands and Germany (Tennie et al. 2008) found that western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla, presented with stinging nettles Urtica dioica, used the same processing skills as wild mountain gorillas, Gorilla beringei beringei. Eight of nine captive western lowland gorillas gathered and processed leaves before eating them (just as wild mountain gorillas do). A captive gorilla with no experience of nettles gathered and processed leaves 32% of the time and omitted the process stage 59% of the time. As a comparison, captive gorillas given willow plant Salix sp., omitted the process stage 79% of the time and 17% of the time ate the leaves as soon as the willow was obtained. Leaves were offered either inside or as a scatter feed outside. Sixty-eight hours of video contained 296 behavioural sequences of nettle feeding from nine gorillas and 176 behavioural sequences of willow feeding from 11 gorillas. (CJ)
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Tennie C., Hedwig D., Call J. & Tomasello M. (2008) An experimental study of nettle feeding in captive gorillas. American Journal of Primatology, 70, 584-593.

Please cite as:

Jonas, C.S., Timbrell, L.L., Young, F., Petrovan, S.O., Bowkett, A.E. & Smith, R.K. (2020) Management of Captive Animals. Pages 527-553 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Management of Captive Animals

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Primates: Provide fresh produce Action Link	Likely to be beneficial	1	Synopsis Link
Primates: Modify ingredients/nutrient composition seasonally (not daily) to reflect natural variability Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Primates: Provide nectar (including artificial nectar) Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link