Behavioural stimulation of animals in ZOOs with different enrichment items is necessary for their optimal survival and welfare. In general, it is desirable that these items increase active and social behaviour. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of different gum-based enrichment items on black ear-tufted marmosets’ behaviour in ZOO Ljubljana. We wished to find out which gum feeder increases active and social and decreases inactive behaviours. We recorded a group of 7 adult marmosets for three weeks, each week for five days, 30 minutes per day. In the first week, marmosets were exposed to a control gum feeder, which is standardly used in the ZOO. In the second week, animals were exposed to a vertical gum feeder, and in the third, to a horizontal gum feeder. We analysed the recordings with the software BORIS and calculated the proportion of frequency and duration of different behaviours. We found out that exposure to a horizontal gum feeder most effectively increased active and decreased inactive behaviours, both frequency and duration, as compared to other gum feeders, mainly due to decreased resting behaviour. Most common active behaviours were search for food and observing with interest. Both were also more frequent, as compared to the exposure to vertical and control gum feeders. The presence of vertical gum feeder increased social behaviours, as compared to horizontal and control gum feeders, due to allogrooming and social play. The animals engaged with the vertical and horizontal feeders more often and for a longer time, as compared to the control. We determined that exposing marmosets to the horizontal gum feeder made them more active, while they became more social in the presence of the vertical gum feeder. We conclude that vertical and horizontal gum feeders are more appropriate for behavioural stimulation in black ear-tufted marmosets than the control, standardly used gum feeder.
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