Behavior and adrenal activity in a group of zoo golden snub-nosed monkeys, Rhinopithecus roxellana, following social structure change

The effects of individual removal by zoo managers on behavior and fecal glucocorticoid changes in snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) were investigated at Beijing Zoo. The results showed that the effect of the removal of three subordinate individuals (DD, male, 4 years; XZZ, male, 3 years and LL, female, 3 years) from a group varied across the remaining group members that may be related to individual’s social status, gender and age. The dominant male was impacted less than subordinate individuals in both the frequency and time duration for the four main behavioral categories. The frequency of stereotypic behavior significantly decreased in the dominant female after the removal of three animals (Z= 2.862, P=0.003). Fluctuations were found in both the behavioral frequency and time duration in other remaining individuals. These findings suggest that small, socially stable groups were somewhat resilient to changes in member composition. Moreover, the cortisol level did not change significantly in the remaining members. An alternative method of hormone assay using fecal samples for vulnerable animals was presented, and that may be useful for monitoring wild golden monkeys and other endangered species of animal.