Behavioural response of zoo-housed Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to changes in exhibit and social group

Moving animals to a new exhibit within a zoo is generally done with that animal's well-being in mind. However, there are many factors that need to be considered when evaluating changes in well-being associated with environmental changes, such as the amount of time needed to habituate to the novel environment, and, for social animals, the effect of moving on the group's stability. In 2015, five individuals from each of the two groups of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at the Zoo de Granby were moved to the indoor area in a new exhibit, combined to form a new group of 10 individuals and subsequently introduced to the new on-display exhibit. The exhibit, designed specifically for Japanese macaques, was bigger and more structurally complex than their previous exhibit. The macaques' behaviour was studied throughout their translocation to investigate whether habituation to the new exhibit occurred and how the combined change in exhibit and social group affected welfare. In the new exhibit, there was significantly less inactivity and more vigilance the first week that the macaques were fully introduced compared to four months later. There were few significant differences in behaviour between the old exhibit/social grouping (2014) and the new exhibit/social grouping (2015); individuals from group A were more inactive in 2015 than in 2014 and individuals from group B allogroomed more in 2015. The results suggested that some degree of habituation did occur. However, behaviour, and by proxy welfare, for individuals from both group A and B, did not change a great deal between years. This was possibly due to the length of the study, the nature of the exhibits or the social instability due to the recent group formation. Suggestions are made as to how to better manage the social component of animal translocations.