Animals housed in artificial habitats are confronted by a wide range of potentially provocative environmental challenges. In this article, we review many of the potential stressors that may adversely affect animals living in captivity. These include abiotic, environmental sources of stress such as artificial lighting, exposure to loud or aversive sound, arousing odors, and uncomfortable temperatures or substrates. In addition, confinement-specific stressors such as restricted movement, reduced retreat space, forced proximity to humans, reduced feeding opportunities, maintenance in abnormal social groups, and other restrictions of behavioral opportunity are considered. Research in support of the claims for these environmental elements as stressors for captive animals reveals no unique suite of behavioral or physiological responses that will clearly indicate the cause of those responses; rather, it is up to us as managers and caretakers of animals in captivity to evaluate enclosures and husbandry practices to ensure the optimal well-being of animals in our care.

This research examined the relationship between number of human visitors and mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus chrysogaster) aggressive behaviors as measured by facial displays indicating threat, When one group of mangabeys was moved from a location having many human visitors to one having few, the frequency of mangabey facial threats toward people decreased significantly, threats within the mangabey group decreased, but threats toward primates in neighboring cages increased. Significant changes in the opposite direction for all three of these targets were observed when a second group was moved from the location of low visitorship to one having many visitors. The movement of a single aggressive female from one group to another decreased within-group aggressive behavior in the group from which she was taken and increased such behavior in her new group. However, threatening displays toward people changed in an opposite direction following the movement of this one animal. With more visitors, there is more attention paid to the visitors and to primates within the cage but less to neighboring captive primates. Introduction of a new animal can increase within-group threats while decreasing visitor-directed threats even when the move is to an enclosure having many visitors. Visitors to the zoo do command the aggressive attention of zoo primates and neighboring animals do matter.

Adults of different sex interact differently with toddlers. In home and laboratory, fathers/adult males are the primary agents of sex typing and mothers/adult females are the primary caretakers, especially in the managerial aspects of child care. Little is known about the public display of childcare. Observations were made of 1588 adults (794 males and 794 females) and 1122 toddlers at: 1) a zoo, 2) an amusement park featuring rides, and 3) a theme park based on nursery rhymes. The subjects were “family parties” of one adult male, one adult female and one or more toddler(s). Adult males were more likely to carry toddlers and adult females were more likely to push empty strollers. Location differences were minor, as were differences in the way male and female adults interacted with toddlers of different sex. There was a toddler-of-like-sex preference in “parent”-toddler interaction.

Three groups of golden-bellied mangabeys were studied to determine the effects of visitors and cage changes on their aggressive displays, grooming and sexual behavior, and play. Assessments of changes in behavior were made by comparing categorized observer comments. Animals moved to cages having more visitors increased their aggressive displays toward people, decreased their aggressive displays toward other species in neighboring cages, and increased their within-group aggression. On the other hand, grooming, sexual behavior, and play increased after cage changes regardless of numbers of visitors. The view that it is the pattern of behavior changes in enrichment that is important in assessment of attempted enrichment was supported. Aggressive and affiliative behaviors are affected quite differently by different environmental stimuli in the zoo.

Golden-bellied mangabey (Cercocebus galeritus chrysogaster) adult females observed at the zoo threatened female observers more than they threatened male observers. Theory in behavioral primatology as well as research design decisions may be affected by this difference, especially if other primates respond to human sex differences in a manner similar to these mangabeys.

The facial threats of ten captive golden-bellied mangabeys (Cercocebus galeritus chrysogaster) were categorized by object threatened. Adult males threatened more than did females except when the object was a nonhuman primate in a neighboring cage. Juvenile mangabeys threatened mainly in play within their own enclosures. Keepers and observers did not differ in frequency of being threatened by the mangabeys. Adult female mangabeys seemed more concerned with neighboring cages of nonhuman primates than were the juveniles and the males. Human visitors to the enclosures received by far the most threats of any targets, certainly far more than the observers and keepers. They were treated like interlopers. Keepers were treated like familiar conspecifics, observers like familiar neighbors. The implications of these findings for captive management of primates and for observational methods in behavioral primatology are discussed.