The Research On Time Budget And Social Behavior In Captive Sichuan Snub-nosed Monkeys (Rhinopithecus Roxellana)

The research on time budget and social behavior in captive of 13 Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) was carried out by Instantaneous and Scan sampling, Focal Animal Sampling and All Occurrences Sampling method from September 2005 to July, 2006 in Jinan Zoological Park. Firstly the ethogram of monkeys was established, and then the primary behavior was coded. The data which converted into the code of behavior was input Oracle database, in which it could be retained. It can be retrieved and processed easily and quickly by executing a SQL statement. The Focus Animal Sampling and Instantaneous and Scan sampling were used in studying the daily activity rhythm and the time budget. The purpose was discussed the appliance of database to behavior ecology and the inferior and environmental factors which caused the time budget of the population. By studying on social behavior in captive Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys, in which All Occurrences Sampling was used, the increasing of feeding and reproducing technique on captive monkeys were discussed. The main results were as follows:1. Data recorded with code is more conveniently and quickly than recorded with verbal descriptions. The program that the data input Oracle database and then retrieved and processed easily and quickly by executing a SQL statement spent less time and the results were more exact.2. The daily activity rhythm of the captive Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys was mostly consistent with the wild, but it was affected by the captive environment factors, such as the time and frequency of feeding, the influence of disturbance by humans etc. Resting had 39.98%-66.86% of time budget, 54.15% on average, feeding occupied 14.22%-28.25% of time budget, 21.08% on average, locomotion had 9.25%-15.59% of time budget, 12.00% on average, and grooming only occupied 4.26%-6.77%, 5.37% on average.3. The daily budget had regulation change with seasons, appearing as: frequency of resting was the highest in all seasons, and decreasing from summer to winter; the frequency of locomotion and grooming was the highest in autumn; and it also appeared feeding increasing, resting and grooming decreasing.4. There was significant difference in time budget of 6 age-sex classes which appeared as the amount of time spent in moving and playing of infant and adolescent is more than that of other classes, the grooming time of adult female is more than that of others, and the resting time of adult male is the most in all classes.5. Temperature, the disturbance by humans and the volume of cages all affected the behavior and the time budget of monkeys. The results were: Feeding ,sleeping and embracing increasing when the temperature was in low-0℃; locomotion increasing when the temperature was in 10-20℃; and resting and sleeping increasing when the temperature was more than 20℃. The number of visitor affected the time budget of resting, locomotion, grooming and sleeping. The amount of time spent in feeding, resting and sleeping was 94.47% in small cages. And the monkey also appeared another special behavior.6. Infants first ventured away from their mother at 6 days of age, stood up at 13 days of age, and engaged in exploratory play at 29 days of age. In 2 months, the infants could be found in physical contact with their mothers. They could be located either on iron nets or on the ground or on the poles after 3 months. Infants could live on by itself in one year.7. Social grooming occurred frequently different monkeys in one cages, especially adult males and females. The groomers mostly were adult females, and adult males, least were infant and adolescent. The sexual behavior of monkeys was affected by the health of body, temperature and the disturbance by humans. Copulation occurred mainly at 9:00-11:00am 2:00-4:00pm.and were averaged 13.23±2.12s(n=39). The captive Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys should like to communicate with others in different cages, which appearing as more grooming and aggressive behavior in near cages.