Habitat Use and Structural Preferences of Captive Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): Effects of Environmental and Social Variables

Exhibit naturalism has become the architectural standard for new zoo exhibits, yet our scientific understanding of how animals interact with naturalistic environments is very limited. Given the expense incurred in building new exhibits, it is essential that more information on animal-environment interactions be obtained and that it be incorporated at the outset into exhibit designs. […]

The effect of food quality and relative abundance on food choice in fallow deer

The diet choice of large herbivores is influenced by the presence of nutrients and toxins in available plants. It is generally assumed that herbivores ingest food that contains higher amounts of nutrients and lower amounts of toxins than the average of the food available. We studied the effects of quality and relative abundance on food […]

“Separation/Abandonment/Isolation Trauma:” What We Can Learn From Our Nonhuman Primate Relatives

Building upon my prior work exploring the impact of childhood abandonment and isolation on chimpanzees and humans, this article discusses the relevance of nonhuman primate research to our understanding of this phenomenon in children. Both laboratory research and naturalistic studies have confirmed the strong commonalities in parenting between our 2 species and have reached similar […]