Primates spent more time resting and alone, performed more sexual and dominance behaviours and ate less when zoos and safari parks were closed during the first Covid lockdown, research has suggested. A new study looked at how the behaviour of bonobos, chimpanzees, western lowland gorillas and olive baboons changed as people started to return to zoos.
As visitors returned, bonobos and gorillas spent less time alone and gorillas spent less time resting, the researchers found. Chimpanzees ate more and engaged more with their enclosures when the zoo was open.
The researchers also found that olive baboons performed less sexual and dominance behaviour when visitors returned. Further, they approached visitor cars more frequently than they had the ranger’s vehicle when the park was closed.
