Coloured feeder balls and mirrors increase exploring behaviour in captive common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Emily Nelsey* | David P.C. Severino** | Sophie A Wilson** | Ashleigh K. Bell** | Mirela Cuculescu-Santana*

*Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, NE1 8ST

**Tynemouth Aquarium, North Shields, NE30 4JF

Pages: 15-19 ⏐ Published: 09 Dec 2024 ⏐ DOI: https://doi.org/10.70145/BiSh0005

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Abstract

The influence of visual enrichment on the behaviour and welfare of captive animals is still little studied for many species due to variations in ability to distinguish colours. Common marmosets make an interesting model of study because all males are dichromats and cannot distinguish red from green and only some females have trichromatic vision.

The behaviour of six common marmosets at Tynemouth Aquarium, UK (three males, three females) was monitored under standard structural and feeding enrichment conditions and in the presence of a mirror and 12 coloured puzzle feeder balls, with and without food, using continuous scan observation with one-zero recording rule (6 hrs/ condition). The number of interactions with each item was also recorded. The relative frequency of exploring increased and that of social interaction decreased significantly in the presence of the new enrichment items. The mirror attracted around ten times more interest than any colour on days with empty feeder balls. However, the food-filled balls attracted up to five times more interest than the mirror, with the red, orange and pink balls tallying the largest number of interactions (555, 369 and 176, respectively) followed by the green (116), yellow (99) and blue (90) balls, suggesting the presence of trichromacy in at least one of the females in the group.

This study added to the existing evidence that mirrors and coloured puzzle feeder balls can provide additional cognitive stimulation and represent effective enrichment items for increasing exploring behaviour and possibly improving the welfare of captive New World primates.

Keywords: common marmoset, zoo, aquaria, welfare, enrichment, Callithrix jacchus

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