ABC'S: ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

CONCERNS & SOLUTIONS

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Welcome to the ABC's! Animal Behavior Concerns & Solutions is an animal behavior column written by animal behaviorist and animal trainer, Diana L. Guerrero. This section is dedicated to animal training techniques for all animals and pets, and topics related to operant conditioning and reinforcement. This column is about a lemur (Eulemur fulvus) behavior evaluation and lemur training strategies. For pet training please visit the pet sections, see our pet behavior booklets in the shop, or click here for enrollment information for classes and teleseminars.

Lemur (Eulemur fulvus) Behavior Evaluation
Lemur Training Strategies

QUESTION
We are having problems getting a female lemur to be social and leave her security area or surrogate mother. Do you have any suggestions?

BACKGROUND
Eulemur fulvus is an arboreal prosimian and have been described as primarily diurnal. This species shows an inclination to being crepuscular and are found in groups ranging from 4-17 animals. (average group size around 10) It is suspected, that as part of the adaptation to survival to this arboreal lifestyle, that the mother-infant bond lasts longer and the species is slower in development in comparison to some of the other species of lemur.

This animal was isolate reared at another facility and little is known about her socialization or rearing history. The female arrived at her new facility at (8 weeks) and is slated to be an ambassador animal. Usually fulvus begins to take solid food at 7 weeks but nursing continues beyond 12 weeks. Some estimates are that nursing can continue through 5-6 months. They also begin to show some venturing behavior around 9 weeks and usually approach and come in contact with other animals.

Initially this animal was amiable to others as long as she was in contact with her surrogate (furry blanket) that she arrived with. As time has passed she has continued to spend most of her time clinging to the surrogate. In addition, she seldom ventures away from it when outside of her enclosure. She will leave it for brief periods of time when in her enclosure.

At 14 weeks the animal continued to cling to the surrogate while lying on her back. This ventral position usually begins to shift to a dorsal position at two to four weeks when the animal is with the mother. She began to show high incidences of fear behavior and startles when exposed to noises, familiar handlers approaching and other stimuli within the environment. In addition, she displays a low-level defense threat through the stiffening of her body and through the puffing of her tail.

Other changes have been the decrease in any interest in handlers and a decline in her greeting behavior and a great decrease in her contact seeking vocalizations. She has also displayed a distress threat behavior at least once toward a handler without any apparent triggers and more recently at another several days in a row. During stress situations she has lunged to bite one handler twice, making contact once and being deflected with a distraction object the second. Recently she became alarmed and bit another handler.

DISCUSSION
In general, fulvus is slower in breaking the mother-infant bond than other species and the mothers will often prevent others from taking over infants until about four weeks of age. The youngsters will begin to venture short distances away from their mothers for short periods of time sometime after that time.

It has been stated that infants of this species stay close to the mother until about somewhere around 80 days. Forced separation at 150 days resulted in trauma to the infant displayed through frenzied behavior or stupor. This animal has shown this trend.

Major events in infant development by Klopfer shows handling by another animal other than the mother at 28-30 days for a female infant; at 82-97 days the female infants showed only 30% of an observation hour spent in time away from mother. Male infants showed about 80% of time away from their mother while females only showed 50% during a 215 day observation period. (Klopfer & Beoskoff, 1979)

This animal was weaned and isolated at a very early age. Despite socialization and other efforts to mold her into a more well-rounded individual, she has shown little improvement or motivation toward becoming more social.

Although she fits within some of the normal parameters for fulvus, it appears that this animal has some retardation in her social development. However she is just now approaching the window of showing more independence (23 weeks) and things may begin to shift.

In other species there are trends toward fearful behavior, social integration, etc., that can escalate during certain windows of time. It may be that this animal was placed during such a period and hence the complications. Genetic predisposition inherited from the parents could be another contributing factor.

SUGGESTED STEPS BEING IMPLEMENTED
Teach the animal to separate voluntarily.
The first step was to begin to reward the animal for a "come" behavior. The animal would come to the handler for the food reward and then return to the security of the surrogate. This animal performed "A to B's" initially but then began to bounce and run around. No duration was sustained for this behavior at this time.

Decrease the motivation to cling to the surrogate and reduce the security area.
The second step was to remove the favored surrogate and to replace it with a less favored surrogate. (Also, the favored surrogate was reduced in size and continues to be used in times of higher stress.) This was approximated over time and the surrogate was attached to the side of the enclosure so that it could be withdrawn without risk or association with the handler or caretaker. Due to the disposition of the animal and slow development the decision was made to not remove the surrogate totally. No shifting of bonding toward the handler occurred, as is often the case with some other species.

Change the position of the animal to an upright position.
The surrogate was also hung along one of the walls of the enclosure so that it barely touched the floor and so that it would change the clinging position of the animal to an upright posture. Consistency here proves to be a challenge depending on the schedule of the facility and caretakers maintaining the enclosure.

Increase the time away from the surrogate.
The fixed position within the enclosure also increased the time that the animal had to spend away from the surrogate to engage in eating, drinking, and play. Additionally, the surrogate could be removed for various periods of time from outside of the enclosure and without direct association to the handler.

Crating & marking behavior.
This animal was taught to "mark-up" ("A to B" or stationing behavior) early on. She was crated daily while her enclosure was cleaned and for relocation for socialization. Food reward was used with this animal without any formal conditioned reinforcer. (Although a verbal "good" was often used.) The animal began to show less cooperation over time for these behaviors.

Introduction to a conditioned reinforcer.
A conditioned reinforcer was introduced once training on the lead began. After five sessions she still did not show any comprehension of what it signified. Work on this conditioning is currently ongoing.

Introduction to a waist harness & lead.
This animal was fitted with a waist harness to facilitate training and to be used as a restraint device with a leash for safety purposes. The initial fitting was done while the animal was allowed to cling to her surrogate. Loose leash experiences were done for two sessions and later slight tension was approximated.

Introduction to restraint, positioning, and new environments.
The animal was allowed to experience the leash restraint when she attempted to leave the handler and enclosure area during "A to B" work. The introduction was a bit disconcerting to the animal but within three sessions she acclimated fairly well.

This animal was also later introduced to a higher distraction area within a controlled environment for safety. She did not respond well. It was during this time that she attempted to bite. One situation was due to handling error; the other had no discernible trigger. The distraction level was dropped back and she currently is making good progress.

The criterion has been increased and she has to stay positioned on the handler while on lead. Proper positioning is below shoulder level. If startled, she has learned to jump onto the lap of the handler. This animal is progressing slowly.

Alternative remedies.
Dr. Edward Bach made flower remedies popular in 1930. They are nontoxic and will not interfere with any other treatment modality and so can be used in conjunction with a variety of applications. Remedies can be given in the water, food, or directly applied to the animal. Remedies can work immediately or take several weeks to show improvement.

This animal was given a Bach Flower® combination of Aspen, Willow, Crabapple and Rescue Remedy. This animal has shown improvement with administration twice a day and is given the remedy as needed when being worked.

FINAL NOTE
This animal seems to have a high degree of fearfulness in comparison to other workable lemurs. She has a tendency to trigger off minor changes and even reacts to familiar handlers fearfully when in a slightly higher distraction area. She has shown no interest or trust in anyone. Her tendency to bite when unable to flee has been exhibited several times. If you do not see any changes within four weeks of consistent application you will need to reevaluate the role of this animal.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to Dr. Adrianne Moore and Dr. Stephen Blake for their assistance and preliminary training in the use of the flower remedies.

RESOURCES OF INTEREST
Doyle, G.A., & Martin, R.D., eds. (1979) The study of prosimian behavior. Academic Press.

Harrington, J.E., (1975) Field observations of social behavior of Lemur fulvus in Lemur Biology. Tattersall, I., & Sussman, R.W., eds. Plenum Press.

Harrington, J., (1971) Olfactory communication in Lemur fulvus. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Duke University.

Jolly, A., (1966) Lemur Behaviour. University of Chicago Press.

Kaufman, R., (1996) The nature and frequency of agonism in free-ranging and semi-free-ranging brown lemurs, Eulemur fulvus. Primates 37(4)335-350.

Klopfer, P.H., (1974) Mother-young relations in Lemurs in Prosimian Biology. Martin, et al. eds. University of Pittsburgh.

Klopfer, P.H., & Boskoff, K.J.,(1979) Maternal behavior in prosimians in The study of prosimian behavior. Doyle, GA& Martin, RD eds. Academic Press.

Martin, RD, Doyle, GA, & Walker A.C., eds. (1976) Prosimian behaviour, Duckworth.

Martin, RD, Doyle, GA, & Walker AC, eds. (1974) Prosimian Biology. University of Pittsburgh Press.

Pereira, M.E., & Kappeler, P.M., (1997) Divergent systems of agonistic behaviour in lemurid primates. Behaviour 134: 225-274.

Sussman, R.W., (1972) An ecological study of two Madagascan primates: Lemur fulvus rufus and Lemur catta. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Duke University.

Tattersall, I., & Sussman, R.W., Eds. Lemur Biology. Plenum Press.

Vick, L.G., & Conley, J.M., (1976) An ethogram for Lemur fulvus. Primates 17(2) 125-144.

Vick, L.G., (1977) The role of inter-individual relationships in two troops of captive lemur fulvus. Ph.D. dissertation. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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About the columnist: Since 1978 Diana L. Guerrero has worked professionally with both wild and domestic animals. Guerrero has been affiliated with, and certified by, a variety of animal programs in the USA and Europe. Based in California, she writes, consults, and speaks. Information on her animal career programs, training courses, and her books {What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality (SkyLight Paths, 2003), Blessing of the Animals (Sterling, 2007), Help! My Pet is Driving Me Crazy (Guerrero Ink, 2007), Animal Disaster Preparedness for Pet Owners & Pet Professionals (Guerrero Ink, 2007)} can be found in this web site and in the shop. Questions for Guerrero should be submitted via the blog comments or membership forum.